Prehistoric Park: A New World
by MortalKombat247
Summary: Shinchoku Co. has been at the forefront of technological advance since the colonization of Mars. In 2016 in 'The New World' watch mankind's other great dream become true: a dream to end extinction. Meanwhile, five years later as Prehistoric Park begins to open it's doors to the public 'One Long Day' could change it all. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 _11 June 2021_

Graham leant back in his chair with his eyes closed and ran his hands through his short hair. He could feel the sun gently warm his forehead as it filtered through the glass skyline. His short little break ended abruptly as someone wacked his head lightly with something that felt like paper. Smiling he turned around in his chair to see that Amelia Kanda, Head of Animal Behaviour and the reason why the park had anything more than a few toads, had jokingly hit him with a flyer.

"I think Hiroshi would skin you alive if he found you napping at this time," she laughed.

"I was just resting my eyes. You need a break sometimes looking at these computer screens 24/7. Isn't that right Bogdan?" Bogdan merely grunted in response. He was never one for talking. Over the last month Hiroshi Komon, CEO of Shinchoku Co. and the fourth richest person in the world, had been a virtual maniac through the stress of opening the park to the public. Announced to the public just a month prior the park had already been fully booked with guests for the next year. Meanwhile Hiroshi had to deal with juggling advertisement, public safety and a whole heap of things that he was glad he didn't have to deal with.

"So this is the leaflet that marketing spew out?" he asked looking at the crumpled paper in Amelia's hand. The park's logo of a blue silhouette of a frog lodged between the 'c' in Prehistoric and the 'p' in Park blazoned on the top of the page. Below the logo were several of the park's inhabitants were placed here, there and everywhere. Inside there was a large map of the three islands and several blocks of text advertising the park.

"A safe and thrilling ride through the past," Graham laughed. Both Bogdan and Amelia laughed as well. "That's an exaggeration if I've ever seen one."

"It should say _'come to Prehistoric Park where we stumbled our way to success. Leave with all your limbs intact and you get a discount on your next visit'_ ," Amelia joked. "How many technical difficulties have to be ironed out?"

"Too many," Bogdan replied glumly. "One of the cameras in the aviary keeps malfunctioning, lights in sector 4 do not turn off during the day unless manually done, the synthetic food producer 2 breaks once a week, the fencing sometimes shuts off during storms and we still have a few issues with the boat tour…"

"Which I'm fixing!" Graham yelled. "I think Michael said he'll look over it for me. Anyway bar the boat all the problems we have aren't major ones. Even the fencing turning off isn't a major issue. Just tiny hiccups."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Amelia check her watch. "I best be off; got some jobs to do. Just think after four years this place is finally going to be open. Hey, today's actually the anniversary of when we arrived here."

 _11 June 2016_

She woke up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Right before her eyes she could see the brilliant bright blue waters that made up the Pacific Ocean. It seemed days ago since they set off from Whakatane Airport although it could only have been an hour max. At that moment she noticed that the other two passengers had woken up as well. Like her they both wore a headset so they could communicate over the incessant whirring of the helicopter blades. The one sitting opposite her was a man either in his late forties or early fifties. He wore wire rimmed glasses on a crooked nose. His brown hair was losing a battle against the grey which his beard had long lost. The sleeves on his shirt were rolled up to his elbows revealing a surprising amount of muscle. It was hard to guess accurately his height due to him sitting down but she could tell he was tall. This contrasted greatly with the man sitting next to her. He was easily shorter than she was and seemed to be in his early twenties. While the older man was apparently physically fit the person sitting next to her was plumper. He had short brown hair with a patchy beard of the same colour. Both were white.

"Ah the third musketeer awakes!" the older man happily cried. He had an American accent but she couldn't pinpoint where in America he came from. "I am Professor Philip West although please call me Phil." He leant over with his hand extended which she shook. He had a firm handshake.

"Graham Lang," the younger man said holding out his hand which she shook. He had an Australian accent.

"Amelia Kanda," she replied. "Sorry for falling asleep. I had a crying baby behind me from London to Dubai, someone snoring Dubai to Auckland and it was a bumpy bus ride to Whakatane."

"Ouch," Graham replied.

"Ah you're English!" Phil cried. "I'm a bit of an Anglophile."

"Originally yeah. I came from an area of London called Notting Hill. I moved to Kenya two years ago. My job," she further explained "I'm an animal behaviourist and tracker with a specific focus on big cats and hyenas. I was given the choice of the Masai Mara in Kenya or the Okavango Delta in Botswana. My grandfather came from Kenya so I thought go to the homeland. I went home for a month before flying out here."

Both men nodded their heads impressed. "I love lions," Phil said "although my specialty is far older than lions. I'm a palaeontologist with a particular emphasis on paraves." At the sight of their confused faces he elaborated. "Sorry. Raptors. They aren't like they are in Jurassic Park but by God they're interesting. I'm based at UCLA but I'm from a town in rural Michigan."

"I'm the odd one out then," Graham laughed. "Computer programmer and technician. I'm from a town just out of Brisbane and through some stroke of luck managed to get a big role in creating Disneyland Seoul. That's where Shinchoku Co. found me. Although I don't know why a wildlife park needs me."

"I was wondering also why I am needed!" Phil exclaimed "Animals that died out a long time ago aren't very relevant to animals vanishing in the here and now! Although through the grapevine I have found out that Hiroshi Komon is a bit of a dino-nut. He may be making a museum or something."

She nodded in agreement. This whole deal seemed rather shady. A few of her friends before she had left had joked about Hiroshi Komon being an illuminati member. Despite being the fourth richest person in the world Hiroshi Komon was a virtually unknown figure; his company was the exact opposite. Directly involved in the UN Mars colony programme it was pumping out technology only thought of in sci-fi movies each year as a result. It was a conspiracy theory gold mine. The more she thought about it the more shady it seemed. Before she set off she had to sign a legal document promising not to divulge what inhabitants the park had until it opened to the public. She had assumed this was to not alert animal poachers to what was on the islands, (from experience she knew how far poachers were willing to go). Her job description now seemed very strange: Ensuring that animals arrived at the wildlife park safely and when the park opens to be Head of Animal Behaviour. She had even got the job in strange ways. A friend called Morarji Patel had been employed as this park's Head Ranger and, had suggested that she take up the position here. Now finding out there was a computer technician who worked on Disney's most advanced park as well as a palaeontologist this made things very bizarre.

"Ah there they are! The Nga Rara islands!" Phil said very happily. "It's Maori for 'The Ribs' because back in the day the island didn't have any large animals. Unfortunately Europeans stripped the island of virtually everything bar the soil itself."

She looked out of the window to see a beautiful set of islands. They were arranged in a horseshoe shape which was in turn surrounded by a large reef with a few sandy embankments which pierced the water. Despite the fact that Europeans had stripped the islands bare Hiroshi Komon and Shinchoku Co. had made a good effort to repopulate the islands. She could see a mix of rich tropical forests, open yellow grasslands and even a rich mangrove forest. The largest island even had a mountain swamped in fog! There were various buildings scattered across the islands and even some large structures which resembled golf balls of all things.

"Wait, are those biodomes?" Graham asked.

"They must be," Amelia replied. "Shinchoku Co. made loads for the Mars colony so they must be easy to come by. You would be surprised by how many endangered animals don't live in tropical climates."

The media always liked to focus on endangered animals from hot or tropical climates: lions, tigers, elephants, rhinos, gorillas and the like. Animals like snow leopards always seemed to be the exception. The European bison was one of the world's most endangered herbivores but they certainly didn't live in savannahs and rainforests. Her heart warmed knowing that her new employers had taken the time to accommodate these animals. The helicopter started descending and she got a clearer view of the landscape. It was far hillier than she imagined. Trees dipped high and low thanks to the contours which could not be seen from higher up. The helicopter roared causing several egrets dart from the trees in fright. It did not take long for the helicopter to land with a thud and the blades stop rotating.

"Looks like we're here," Phil said. They took their headsets off just as the pilot slid the door open for them. Instantly warm air rushed into the cockpit like an invading army. Beads of sweat crawled down Phil's face which had turned a pinkish-red within seconds of the door being opened. As they stepped out of the helicopter they stopped dead. A man stood to greet them in a blue suit. He was fairly tall, wore glasses, was balding and had a goatee with a few grey specks in it. Amelia had seen his photo on the internet. It was Hiroshi Komon!

"Ohayou gozaimasu Komon-san," she said likely butchering the pronunciation and grammar. She had tried to learn Japanese before arriving in case Komon ever came to the islands. Even then she had only learnt about ten phrases. However, she never expected meeting this soon.

"Don't worry Ms Kanda I'm fluent in English. Please call me Hiroshi. I like to run an informal ship. Until the park opens I'm acting as manager. Anyway, welcome to Nga Rara!"

 _11 June 2021_

She could practically taste the higher amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. Nearby she could hear a generator whir like some large, mechanical cicada. One day she would learn how the oxygen generators actually worked. They had simpler ones in the various biodomes, which were easy to understand how they worked, but these ones were far more complicated. Biology was her strongpoint, not physics. Stones and dirt crunched under her boots as she walked along the dirt road. To her left it was a shear drop where the only thing separating her from said drop was a meter and a half tall wall with the odd viewing scope. A jeep was parked further down the road with someone looking through a viewing scope. It was a girl in her teens. Her father got out of the jeep. Jesse Washington was often regarded as a heart-throb by most of the staff. He was African-America, a chiselled jaw line, tall, was in his late forties but look hardly a day over thirty, a shaved head with smart but subtle stubble and very smart as well. Being joint Head Vet with Suzanne McNab he had to be. Like the other vets he wore khaki combat trousers, a lime green shirt with the Prehistoric Park logo over the heart and, a headset.

"Hey Amelia!" Jesse yelled waving when he noticed her.

"Hey. Hi Heather, how are you?"

"Fine thanks. I can't see them though," she waved vaguely at the forest in front of her "and dad won't tell me what to look for."

Jesse gave them a sheepish look with a boyish smile. Amelia leant over to Heather. "Look near the base of those trees, they like to eat fruit from them."

It didn't take long for Heather to spot one with the new hint. She had a look of bemusement on her face. "Wow that's really weird. It's like an ostrich but with more feathers and that beak! I don't know what that beak is like."

"Gastornis," her father explained. "They can crack a coconut like it was a piece of celery with that beak. Trust me not something you want to make angry. So, Amelia where are you off to? I'll give you a lift if we're in the same direction."

"I'm heading towards the Hesperornis. You?"

"Ah. Sorry, I'm with the thylacines," he replied earning a 'What are they?' from Heather. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah see you around. You might want to stay inside later as well. Someone in the control room said there's a storm on its way."

 _11 June 2016_

The next hour was a rush of meeting new people. Graham was introduced to the other computer technician that he was working with, a quiet Belarusian man named Bogdan Kalin, as she was introduced to the Head Vets, Suzanne and Jesse. The Head Keeper Bob Arthur struck her the most. Slightly pudgy he was short with a bushy moustache but seemed to be full of life. According to him they would be working together a lot before the park opened. Bob explained that he once was Head Keeper at Chester Zoo before moving to London where he adopted the same role at London Zoo. There he had been hired by Hiroshi. However, he joked that he only wished he knew what animals they would be looking after. If he doesn't know what's going on here who does? Everyone's reaction to Phil's profession was the same as her reaction, (and Phil's himself): utter confusion. Hiroshi did say that there was to be a museum but it wasn't to be constructed for several years. Why then was a paleontologist needed now?

Eventually Hiroshi had all the new staff converge to what would eventually be the park's reptile house. Calling it a reptile house always frustrated Amelia. What zoos and wildlife parks called reptile houses often exhibited amphibians and invertebrates as well, not just their scaly brethren. With Hiroshi working so close with the head staff she was hopeful that she could bend his ear to get a name change. When they entered the 'reptile house' the questions in her mind doubled. There was nothing in there! There were exhibits but they didn't have anything in them. No iguanas, no geckos, no crocodiles, no terrapins, no snakes, no spiders. Not anything. That is for a pond surrounded by a short wall with a little waterfall. Inside said pond she could hear the rhythmic grunts of frogs.

"Amelia!" a voice behind her said. She turned to see a bald, elderly Indian man with wrinkles to rival a tortoise standing there. He also only had his left arm following an unfortunate incident with a poacher. Morarji Patel had spent almost his entire life fighting against poaching and injustice. Born in South Africa he had somehow managed to get a good job at Kruger National Park and whenever he could took part in anti-Apartheid activities. When almost arrested in the 1980s he moved to Kenya to work at the Masai Mara reserve. He even managed to continue his humanitarianism by regularly raising money to help needy people in the local area. Not even losing an arm to a poacher in 1996 stopped him. He had become Amelia's mentor during her time at the Masai Mara.

"Wait to you see what Hiroshi has in mind," he whispered. Hiroshi beckoned everyone to look at the frog exhibit. Inside there were several orange coloured toads happily croaking away on logs, leaves and, in their bubbling water. It was strange. She recognised these toads but not for a good reason. They looked exactly like the extinct golden toad. A little too much like golden toads.

"They look exactly like golden toads," Amelia commented. Hopefully by saying something it could answer some questions; like why were they looking at toads which resembled an extinct species?

"That's because they are golden toads," Hiroshi replied almost bursting with excitement.

"But…golden toads. Golden toads are extinct," she replied.

Hiroshi laughed. "Not are. Was." What was going on?

"Did you rediscover them?" Bob asked. Hiroshi shook his head and sat down on the wall of the golden toad exhibit.

"There is something missing from our world," he began "The amazing animals that time has left behind. But what if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever? Since I was a small child I wondered this. Ninety-nine percent of all life, from the mighty dinosaurs to fungi, has gone extinct. What a waste! I am not the only one to think this. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle thought this with his book The Lost World where humans and dinosaurs lived side by side, Michael Crichton would think it again with Jurassic Park decades later. Ladies and gentlemen, on these islands we shall turn dreams into reality."

 _Great I'm working for a madman. I'm working for a man whose lackeys found a new species of toad or rediscovered one and thought he could end extinction. They likely told him that they brought it back from extinction hoping for a raise and the gullible idealist fell for it. He's going to waste his entire fortune sitting on dinosaur eggs hoping they'll hatch. There's a reason why humanity landed on Mars before Barney the Dinosaur became a reality._ Luckily judging by the faces of everyone else, (bar Morarji), she wasn't the only one thinking this. Before anyone could call Hiroshi out for being nuttier than a squirrel's diet he called for them to follow him. Reluctantly they did and after a gruelling walk through the noon sun they arrived at a new place marked Holding Pens in several languages. Each holding pen was massive; at least large enough to hold an entire herd of elephants with room to spare. They made the ones at Masai Mara for relocating animals look like storage closets. Curiously there was almost a corridor running through the centre of the pens to a place resembling two pylons. Beside the pylons was a small building which Hiroshi gestured them to.

"In here please!" he yelled.

Inside was a large high-tech computer straight out of a sci-fi movie. One screen had a satellite image of the world with the exact date and time right next to it. There were countless buttons, switches and flashing lights on the computer which would make even the most well behaved child want to mess around with it. Although the very stern looking man with an outrageous tangled beard and, a neck that closely resembled a brick sitting at the computer would put any child off touching the computer.

"This is Ivor Strazdy. A genius physicist who made all this happen. Say hello Ivor." Ivor just grunted. He looked the type to punch you in the face than say hello. Hiroshi continued regardless. "In the early 1950s Albert Einstein started investigating an alternate energy source to nuclear energy in a way to undermine the nuclear bombs. Instead he found the secret to time travel. He never published his findings, or even told anyone. He wrote it down in a journal which I bought eight years ago. What we see here is the result of eight years of hard work. We type in the time and coordinates here and a portal opens up there." He pointed to the pylons.

She couldn't believe it. The man was gaga, loopy, completely demented.

"It is flawed," Ivor said in his grumbling voice. She couldn't pinpoint the accent except that it seemed to be a mix of every known accent. "The most recent date it can travel back to is 12,000 years ago. As a plus it does manage to resolve time paradoxes."

"Now hold on here!" Phil said suddenly. "You are expecting us to take this as the truth? Time travel and time paradoxes! I think I speak for everyone when I say this is something straight out of a sci-fi movie."

Hiroshi smiled softly and nodded. "I understand. I too couldn't believe it at first. Ivor prepare the example." Hiroshi headed for the exit and gestured for everyone to follow him. He had them all congregate in front of the pylons. He then gave a thumb up to Ivor and then…Whoosh! A swirling blue vortex appeared right before their eyes. She heard Bob give out a surprised yelp. With no qualms Hiroshi stepped through the vortex gesturing for all to follow him. Slowly one by one they did. It felt strange walking through it. No other experience Amelia ever felt could compare to it. It was like putting your face in water but the water was almost solid. She suddenly felt extremely cold. She opened her eyes and gasped. Instead of the tropical climate she was now in a frozen tundra with a furious snow storm raging around her.

"Have I convinced you all?" Hiroshi yelled over the roar of the snow. They all yelled 'yes' in response and he gestured for them to follow him back through the portal.

 _11 June 2021_

The electric car silently purred as Jesse stepped on the gas. Well, if it could be called gas in an electric car. Heather was looking lazily out of the window as trees darted past. In the back he could see Clarence, Heather's boyfriend, looking at a pair of Prehistoric Park's special binoculars. He didn't like Clarence. The only reason was that he didn't like the idea of his little princess starting to begin dating. He wasn't even supposed to be here which made his animosity towards him grow even more. Heather wanted Clarence to come with her and it was either have Heather and Clarence or not have her at all. He would rather die than not see his daughter. It was a shame that his son, Mike, had chosen to stay back at the Lodge instead of accompanying him on his rounds. Although, he had a feeling that had something to do with an attractive staff member at the Lodge...

"Clarence if you had waited another five minutes you would have got to see the gas…What was it called dad?"

"Gastornis."

"Yeah that thing. It's cool, like an ostrich but bigger."

"Mr Washington," Clarence leant forward. Not again. "Does Prehistoric Park have an Indominus Rex?"

"No that dinosaur doesn't exist. It was made up for Jurassic World." Second time he's asked that!

"Do you have raptors?"

"Yes but they aren't like the ones in Jurassic Park." Third time!

"What about pterodactyls?" It was going to be a long day.

 _11 June 2016_

She was speechless. She had travelled in time! Actual fricking time travel! Wait…her job involved making sure that animals arrived at the park safe. Did that mean? She turned and saw Hiroshi smiling at her.

"Ms Kanda. I'm assuming that you've realised that you will be helping me acquire residents for the park with Professor West!" Phil looked at him in amazement. "Who better to help a wildlife tracker than a paleontologist? Tomorrow I expect to see the two of you at my office to plan the first rescue mission. Eventually someone called Nigel Marven will arrive at the park to help the two of you. He has some family matters to take care of first. Now in the meantime it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park."

 **I'm leaving a note in the reviews so if you could please have a look. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Mission 1- The First Dinosaur?

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **On their first mission Prehistoric Park aims to rescue possibly the oldest dinosaur known.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 1- The First Dinosaur?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has been at the forefront of technology for over ten years. Now they are on the verge on the next greatest advancement: the extinction of extinction. Now the Nga Rara islands are prepared for anything ranging from giant bugs to dinosaurs.**

Amelia fiddled with the portable camera strapped on her head. ' _Screw it, it's a GoPro'_ she thought. Hiroshi Komon always got iffy when someone called his own brand of camera GoPros. He wanted everything caught on tape; apparently he was planning to make a documentary about Prehistoric Park when it opened to the public. He even got a narrator on standby for when it's made. The sudden click indicated that it was working.

"Let's get cracking!" she said happily. She could have burst with excitement. Actual time travel to rescue actual dinosaurs! For the last week Phil West had given her a crash course in everything to do with the Mesozoic. She didn't know who were more excited: herself or Phil. She had the opportunity to mark the behaviour of a group of animals never recorded before while he could actually see in person a living specimen of the animals that he had studied for years.

"Be careful! That's got to hold a dangerous creature!" Bob shouted nearby. He knew perfectly well that Phil and herself had chosen a, (possibly), non-dangerous dinosaur to start off with. Saying that it was dangerous was a possible way to make sure that the workers took extra care with the exhibit. Bob then turned to them. "Ah, you've got the camera working. So what exactly are you going back to rescue? For you know what." He pointed to the camera.

"Possibly the oldest dinosaur," Phil explained excitedly. She smiled at him; he was like a child on Christmas Eve knowing that Santa would come soon. "Nyasasaurus parringtoni from the Manda Formation and, they lived 242 million years ago in the Triassic! It's so primitive there are still many debates whether it is even a dinosaur!" That part frustrated her to no end. He could have at least picked an animal to start off with which they concretely knew if it was a dinosaur or not!

 **Nyasasaurus lived at a time where the world was far different than today. There was five percent less oxygen in the atmosphere, it was three degrees warmer and the landmasses were fused together into one supercontinent called Pangea.**

From what she had heard of the Triassic it was a dry and arid land but, the exhibit Phil advised Bob and the park's architect to create was a lush wonderland. According to Phil the Anisian, when Nyasasaurus lived, was wetter. It was later on in the Triassic that the world became arid. She was eager to see whether Phil's claims were true. Despite Phil wishing to give Bob a lecture on the Triassic she dragged him away to get ready for the mission. They soon arrived at the holding pens, (Hiroshi was standing in his suit on one of the walkways above the pens looking very eager), and got in the jeep. Two others were with them alongside an aerial drone.

"We've linked up. As long as you've got the drone we can communicate," Graham said through her headset.

"Roger that. Igor fire up the portal!" Before them a swirling vortex emerged like a genie from a bottle. "Before we go in I just have to say do exactly as I say. I've tracked Kenya's most dangerous animals and know what an animal can do. It's for your own safety. Understand?"

"That's why Hiroshi hired you!" Phil cried happily. "You're the best. Now let's go!"

 **Prehistoric Park's rescue mission for a Nyasasaurus has begun!**

She had to admit it: Phil was right about the climate. Just like the Nga Rara islands the humidity hung heavy on the air but virtually else was different. Where the islands were covered all across in lush grass there was none to be found here. Instead arching ferns and wispy horsetails sprung from the ground where grass would have dominated 242 million years later. She was glad that she didn't have asthma or any other respiratory issues. The higher carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere and severe reduction in oxygen caused her breathing to become raspier. She took a few deep breaths to help her have some semblance of normality. Eventually the breathing would get back to normal.

"We're here," she said happily. The Triassic period. One supercontinent, no birds, no mammals, a kingdom of reptiles where the first dinosaurs stalked the land. It was staggering to imagine let alone personally see. One day this land would become Tanzania. Phil had his jaw open in amazement. Everything he had worked for and studied was directly before his eyes. Gently she opened the door. With a click the door opened and Triassic air filtered inside. Soon everyone followed her, admiring the Triassic world. The sun was high in the sky; it was hard to imagine that it was the same sun that she saw every day.

"Okay, get the drone in the air and if you hear anything get in the jeep quickly," Amelia said to the drone pilot "Phil says there are countless animals discovered each year and this sight is no exception. There could be something both undiscovered and aggressive out there. Everyone else, we've got a dinosaur to find."

Phil was raring to go as they headed off through the bush. Twigs cracked and stones crunched as they walked through the humid forest. She scanned the ground for any sign of a dinosaur: possible three toed footprints, maybe the odd eggshell or chewed branches. Phil said that Nyasasaurus was most likely an omnivore. If true it was a good thing; omnivores generally wouldn't choose to eat large living animals. They didn't hear anything other than the occasional buzz of a prehistoric dragonfly. Not a dickie bird (or the Triassic equivalent of a dickie bird).

"So why did Nyasasaurus go extinct?" she asked Phil. If this was to be turned into a possible show it was best that she created some dialogue. Anyway she was actually interested in why it did go extinct.

"We don't actually know," Phil replied "We only have one specimen and it's fragmentary at that. Judging by what the Triassic will be I would assume that the climate becoming arid basically signed the poor animal's death warrant."

She understood that perfectly. In Kenya she had seen just what one drought could do. Entire populations of zebra and wildebeest could be decimated by one drought; just imagine what continuous droughts would do. Judging by how primitive Nyasasaurus was compared to even late Triassic dinosaurs like Coelophysis it had no chance. Quickly the trees and high ferns parted to reveal a riverbank. Or what would have been a riverbank if not for the fact that it was little more than a trickle.

"Ooh that can't be good," the other helper said in a New Zealand accent. Phil nodded in agreement.

"Not good for animals but good for us," Amelia said. "In times of drought animals congregate to any source of water. Including rare animals. We may simply just have to wait for a Nyasasaurus to come to us."

"Is that safe?" the helper asked. "Wouldn't other…dangerous animals come?"

"Possibly yes and normally I would say to hide in a jeep or conceal ourselves. In this case we can afford to be in the open to an extent. The reason why no large carnivores have been found at this formation could simply be there aren't any. If there are any they may be wary about us. They won't recognise our scent because we're mammals."

She decided that the base of a tree concealed with luscious green ferns would offer a good hiding spot. They sat down among the ferns taking deep breaths to compensate for the Triassic air. In the distance she could see the aerial drone bob up and down in a strange sight for the Triassic world. Phil was happily flicking through a guide which described the known animals in the area. He knew it inside out, well there's no such thing as too much revision. It was oddly peaceful.

 **What Amelia doesn't know is how quickly her plan would come to fruition.**

They made low grunting noises. They sounded some sort of mix between a snuffling boar and a grunting cow. However, they resembled nothing like the animals that they sounded like. Around the size of a boar they were virtually hairless except for the occasional thin hair scattered around the body. On a fairly short neck sat a rectangular head which ended in a formidable set of jaws exactly resembling the jaws of a naked mole rat. In fact it overall resembled a naked mole rat except it was far larger, more reptilian and had cow like eyes. They had a grey body except the back, neck and head. The back was black while the head and neck were red. She counted at least twenty of these strange animals.

"Phil what are these guys?" she asked.

"Definitely a rhynchosaur. Judging by the time and place it must be Stenaulorhynchus stockleyi. Yes they definitely are. They directly resemble the descriptions in the guide." He was transfixed by them. She could perfectly understand why. They were such a bizarre creature, something almost alien. It was strange to think they roamed Tanzania millions of years before zebra and buffalo.

"Are they meat eaters?" the helper asked timidly.

"No, no," Phil replied. "See those teeth. They are best for snipping off vegetation than tearing flesh."

"I wouldn't want to get too close though. I can imagine those teeth could do serious damage," Amelia replied. Warthogs could do serious damage with their tusks; these Stenaulorhynchus could most likely do far more damage with their teeth. "I want to see how big this herd is."

She got up and started to slowly walk past the first few individuals, (fast movements could provoke them). Climbing onto a ledge overlooking the former stream she could see rhynchosaur after rhynchosaur. There were fifty, no sixty, no eighty more rhynchosaurs. No there were even more than that! Phil was mumbling.

"This is strange. Rhynchosaurs have never been found in these numbers. Only a few individuals at a time. Quite possibly because it's rare that bones are preserved…"

"No," Amelia interrupted "In the present day animals often join one another in droughts. Wildebeests and zebra often form herds in the hundreds and lions have been known to form large prides. This is the same situation. Wait… what are they?"

A few new creatures were skirting the outskirts of the rhynchosaur mega-herd. They were about half the height of a human and were around three meters long. With a rectangular head on a half a meter long neck they almost pecked at the ground. Each one was brownish with black stripes and had a yellow belly with arms as long as the neck tucked close to the chest and, they had three toed feet. The bipedal creatures were covered in strange bumps. Phil started scrambling excitedly at his guide and placed a page abruptly in her face. It showed a drawing of the animal before them except that the drawing was a different colour and lacked the bumps. She read the title: _Nyasasaurus_.

 **Amelia's plan has succeeded. They have found the Nyasasaurus but…how do they rescue one.**

Phil's eyes were wide in awe. His smile increased when the Nyasasaurus dropped down and moved on all fours. "It's too early to tell but judging by the body shape I would say Nyasasaurus is a dinosaur. Looks similar to Eoraptor. Oh my goodness."

She too was in awe. If Phil was right they were the first people in the entirety of history to see an actual dinosaur. Graham's voice came through the headset: "Did I hear right? Have you found a Nyasasaurus?"

"Yeah," she replied still in shock of seeing it. "Three are standing before us. I just need to think of how we can get them to the park."

She noticed that the Nyasasaurus were following the rhynchosaurs. The rhynchosaurs were bulldozing their way through the ferns and bushes stripping them of their foliage. A few others used their formidable teeth to tear the earth open to get to roots and tubers. When the rhynchosaur had moved on to the next bush, (or patch of earth), to devour a Nyasasaur would jump in. She could see them picking up the remaining leaves, bugs and what seemed to be lizards in their small jaws. In Kenya Amelia had seen the same thing happen where birds would swoop in after an elephant had walked through. She was thinking it was some peaceful coexistence until one Nyasasaur got too close to a rhynchosaur and was chased off by the latter's clacking teeth.

"The Nyasasaurus must be exploiting the rhynchosaurs," she hypothesised. "The rhynchosaurs must barge through bushes and dig up the earth making it easier for our dinosaurs to jump in. Smart."

"Nyasasasaurs may eat rhynchosaur eggs," Phil went on "That may be why they don't like the Nyasasaurs."

"Okay this is all well and good but how do we get one?" the helper asked gesturing towards the Nyasasaurs. He had a valid point. They didn't bring any tranquilisers so simply tranquilising the 'dinosaur' was out of the question. Even then she didn't like using tranquilisers. You had to get the correct amount or otherwise the animal would run off undeterred, run off and fall asleep later, get drowsy or overdose. A nearby rhynchosaur urinated. The stream was a very unhealthy dark colour. Poor thing was dehydrated…which gave her an idea.

"Phil are we allowed to bring back unexpected animals?" she asked.

"A few yes but not too many species. I think Bob said a max of five unexpected species per mission. Did you want to save the rhynchosaurs as well?"

"Yes because I think we can save a Nyasasaur as well."

She took her backpack off so she could rummage through it for the item that she needed. Quickly she found it. A shovel. There was the time old phrase: _don't shit where you eat_. When studying animals in the wild _'don't shit where you sleep'_ was a good phrase to live by. Human faeces could easily attract a carnivore and it was a good idea to have your trench far from your tent. She always brought a small shovel to easily build a trench. Quickly she set to work; it was a tiring task considering how high the sun was, the high temperature and the severe reduction in oxygen in the atmosphere. By the time she had managed to make a small hole she was panting like a dog and was sweating buckets. Feebly she stuck the two portal sticks in the ground either side of the hole.

"Water," she said. The helper handed her his water container. She shook her head. "No. Pour your water in the hole. If the three of us pour all our water in we might be able to entice a few rhynchosaurs over. Hopefully with a Nyasasaur as well."

The other two nodded and quickly started pouring their water into the hole. Sitting on the floor completely drained Amelia started to pour her water as well. That is until Phil caught her hand.

"You need that water. Next time tell me your plan. I may be old but I am still physically fit." He gave her a warm smile which she reciprocated. Greedily she drank the cool liquid. It was the best drink she had ever had. After she had drunk half of the water she poured the rest into the hole despite Phil's protests. Although the water was the same colour as old vomit thanks to the Triassic dirt it must have looked appealing for a dehydrated rhynchosaur. She started splashing the water.

"What the hell are you doing?" the helper asked.

"She's getting the attention of the Stenaulorhynchus," Phil explained "With the rivers drying up these guys are dehydrated. They will be eager to have any source of water. They will converge on Amelia's makeshift pool, we'll open the portal and hopefully the Nyasasaurus will follow suit!"

It didn't take long to get a thirsty rhynchosaur's attention. A larger one made a grunt similar to that of her dad snoring and ambled towards the pool. It made wheezing sounds like if some sort of reptilian boar had asthma. Quickly she pressed the remote for the portal and she could instantly feel a cool breeze from the vortex tickle the back of her neck. Undeterred by the portal the Stenaulorhynchus still darted forward with some of the other herd members following gladly. Behind them she could see a Nyasasaurus look at them with beady eyes. _Please follow._ The first rhynchosaur was almost on them. Not wanting to get in the way of those formidable jaws she ran through the portal.

"Graham!" Phil said holding his hand to this headset. "Get Bob to get the pens ready!"

 **Amelia's plan is a bold one but if it works Prehistoric Park could have two new species. Two species saved from extinction…**

"Whoa! What are they?" Bob yelled from the walkway. Two rhynchosaurs had emerged from the portal and were grunting angrily at being cheated out of water. Not wanting to face their angry jaws the three time travellers ran up the service ladders up to the walkway. Bob was immediately sorting the situation. As more and more rhynchosaurs poured through the portal he had troughs filled to the brim with water in several pens. As soon as one pen was deemed to be full another was opened for the park's new arrivals. Soon the only things that could be heard were the yells of Bob, the grunts of the Stenaulorhynchus and the incessant lapping of water. Suzanne McNab, the kindly joint Head Vet of Prehistoric Park, had some powder poured into the troughs (after being refilled twice) when she had found out the animals were dehydrated. Soon everyone was congratulating the three time travellers. Until then only golden toads had been rescued and even then it was before any of the staff had arrived. Unfortunately no Nyasasaurus followed the rhynchosaurs.

"What even are they?" Suzanne asked as she looked down from the walkway.

"Stenaulorhynchus," Phil explained "A herbivore which dug up roots and lived in small herds. We need to tell Bob the only reason there's so many was because of a drought." Prehistoric Park had acquired twenty seven Stenaulorhynchus which were to be split into four smaller herds.

 **Prehistoric Park has grown exponentially after just one trip to the past. Now it has a herd of Stenaulorhynchus rescued from dehydration.**

She did not envy Morarji and Bob. The Head Ranger and Head Keeper had to tag each rhynchosaur for identification and, to help Suzanne track the health of each animal. First she had to see that each one was recovering from dehydration, then if they had any injuries and, she also see if any had illnesses which would require quarantining. None had obvious signs of disease but they would have to wait for blood tests on _every_ animal to confirm that. A job Amelia was glad she didn't have to do.

"Open the gate!" Bob yelled. The gates slid open and the transport truck reversed into the enclosure. A ramp on the truck's trailer went down and the doors slid open. Immediately a large rhynchosaur barged out grunting like a boar. Soon his new, smaller, herd followed. All made an immediate beeline for the lake. At that moment she felt proud. There was no way those Stenaulorhynchus could have reached the water with the size of that herd. Could she have saved their lives? Her train of thought was interrupted by Hiroshi slapping her joyfully on the back.

"They aren't dinosaurs but they are just exquisite! This is what Prehistoric Park is about. Not just the famous movie star extinct animals but the rare and unique lesser known ones. They are just so amazing."

She hid her smirk. For four hours Amelia and Phil had been arguing over the first mission. They wanted something small while Hiroshi wanted to rescue a very famous resident of Hell Creek as the first mission. As the rhynchosaurs started wading in their lake she set off. Phil and the helper, Mike, should have got the items for her plan by now.

 **Amelia and Phil are returning to Triassic Tanzania once more with a new and improved plan to rescue a Nyasasaurus. This time they will not leave without one.**

They emerged from the portal at the jeep site with the drone pilot happily sitting shirtless catching the rays from a Triassic sun. While they were dinosaur hunting he had been sunbathing. Amelia couldn't help feeling somewhat jealous. However, as soon as the portal closed they heard a rustling. It came from some ferns. She felt a lump in her throat. What was it? The drone pilot sat up on the hood of the jeep suddenly looking far paler than before. At that moment she could have killed Phil. He had dived into the ferns like he was jumping from an explosion. What was he thinking? He came up from the ferns holding what looked like an opossum with mange. It was covered in patchy fur which was white on the head and black everywhere else. This strange animal had a head like that of an elongated wolf whose jaw kept on gnashing revealing very sharp canines. As the animal squirmed it kept making a sound like a high pitched dog. Phil could not obviously keep hold of the animal; he almost dropped it several times. Irate she took the animal from him and held it in a position where it could no squirm.

"What the hell are you doing?" she angrily yelled "It could have been dangerous. It could have hurt you."

"Don't worry. I saw it through the ferns. This little fellow," the little fellow angrily snapped his jaws "is a Diademodon tetragonas. He's only a baby. Mummy and daddy reach two meters in length."

"I don't care if they reach ten meters! Why did you grab him so recklessly?"

"The first reason is that Diademodon is going extinct so we can help him. The second is that he is a cynodont; an animal half way mammal, half way reptile. He's partially warm blooded, had fur but his kind lays eggs. The third is we're filming. We have to have some excitement!" She shot daggers at him as he pulled a pet cage from the jeep. She placed the young cynodont who started angrily hissing. "Little scamp. Hey, how do you like Scamp for a name. When you're bigger we'll get a nice female Diademodon to keep you company."

Scamp didn't like this idea based on the fact that he hissed even louder at Phil. "Don't do that ever again Phil. Do hero antics at Prehistoric Park where we have people to bandage you up after acts of stupidity. Don't do it here!" Phil gave a boyish smile.

"If you do anything reckless tell me first so I can help," she whispered smiling. Phil gave another smile.

 **Meanwhile, Bob is having some issues with the park's newest inhabitants…**

"Hey! Bad extinct thing!" The rhynchosaur grunted and clacked the rat like teeth at him. Great. They could have brought back something nice and fluffy but no! They had to bring back something with an attitude problem. Suzanne had tasked him with making sure the Stenaulorhynchus got a mixture of proteins and minerals to help with their dehydration. That involved dropping some noxious smelling powder into a water trough. It had been going great until one had decided to hog the water trough.

"Get away you!" he yelled trying to poke it with a wooden pole. The rhynchosaur looked at him with cow like eyes. Unlike a cow it then proceeded to bite a chunk out of his pole as easy as someone biting a stick of celery in half. "You little tyke!"

Why did he have a feeling things would not get any better with future missions?

 **Meanwhile, the rescue team are on their way to rescue the Nyasasaurus seen earlier.**

They took the jeep this time. She was glad of the air conditioning. Scamp seemed to as well as he was now curled up asleep in his cage. Phil's sandwich laid half eaten next to the cyndont's nose. The paleontologist had been instantly smitten with the little thing. Amelia wondered if Phil's love for Scamp would continue when he was fully grown and the size of a husky. Finding the rhynchosaur herd wasn't a hard task. The sprawling herd were still congregating around the dying stream where the largest and most bullish ones were hogging the precious water. It's the same no matter where you go. The largest individuals take advantage of their size.

"Is that a Nyasasaurus?" the drone pilot asked. Three Nyasasaurs were around the edge of the herd changing regularly from being bipedal to quadrupedal. It was time to enact the plan. They parked the jeep close to the herd and, pulled out poles and tarpaulin from the jeep. Placing the poles into the soil and throwing the tarpaulin over the poles they formed a horseshow shape enclosure. At the entrance to the enclosure Phil placed the portal sticks.

"Explain your plan for the camera!" Phil said happily.

She felt awkward. If there was a cameraman she would feel this less but…the 'GoPro' thing was distracting. Amelia decided to look at Phil to explain sp she could feel that she had an audience. "Okay…so…er. We have this enclosure thing…which…er…I'm going to put some strong smelling meat near the edge of the enclosure. As the Nyasasaurus are omnivores they might want to check out the meat. They'll enter the enclosure and then Mike…er…the guy in the jeep will honk the horn. The dinosaurs will then get scared, run the other way and we'll open the portal." Phil smiled.

' _Christ'_ she thought as the meat was revealed. It was a large salmon that would turn the nose of even the most hardened fishmonger. This shit better work! Eager to get away from the smell of the rancid fish she threw it into their makeshift enclosure. The Nyasasaurs instantly looked their way. Perfect! The dinosaurs were downwind of the fish so they could smell it. One hopped forward and gave a sound like a goose. _Come on._ She could have cheered as it edged into the enclosure. The other two followed. Phil was in awe. The three dinosaurs nosed the fish and started squabbling between each other. She could see their small teeth. They weren't teeth for tearing flesh like the lions she had seen at the Masai Mara. They were suited for nipping. Perfect for an omnivore.

"Look at the bumps on their skin," Phil said almost in tears. It must have been his dream come true to see a real dinosaur up close. "We know dinosaurs were feathered. They…they are so primitive that they lack feathers. They are just so beautiful!"

She had no choice but to agree. With their bird like calls, bright green eyes, small head and wrinkled skin they looked almost cute. Slowly she opened the portal. Dirt swirled around the enclosure thanks to the rippling vortex. Mike took this as his cue and the Nyasasaurus screeched in panic as the horn blared. On all fours they ran straight into the 21st century. Amelia was speechless. Her plan had worked!

 **Prehistoric Park has just acquired its first dinosaurs. The three dinosaurs are not only Prehistoric Park's first dinosaurs but the world's in 65 million years.**

Both Hiroshi and Phil looked close to tears. The Nyasasaurs were jumping happily up and down on a log chasing geckos. All three were undergoing treatment to solve their dehydration problems. Amelia felt happy. Not to mention excited for the next mission.

 **It looks like Prehistoric Park's adventures have just begun!**

 **Rescued this mission:**

27 Stenaulorhynchus stockleyi. 12 male, 15 female

3 Nyasasaurus parringtoni. 2 male, 2 female

1 Diademodon tetragonus. 1 male

 **Trivia and next time:**

 **I said I'm not taking recommendations except for this one time. If people like the story (including the other story arc which will be up sometime soon) the next mission will be up to you. Recommend any missions and my favorite I'll make it an official mission with a cameo from you. Also at the end of each mission I'll give some trivia (if there is any).**

 **1\. The idea for this mission changed twice. First it was for Tanystropheus but with it living by the coast a water portal would be needed to rescue other animals. With Prehistoric Park just starting out I thought a water portal would need to be developed for some time. It was then going to be for Eoraptor but then I read Mark Witton's blog post about Nyasasaurus which gave me this mission idea.**

 **2\. The Stenaulorhynchus colour is based on the art found on Mark Witton's blog post about Nyasasaurus.**

 **3\. The Hell Creek reference is in fact a joke about the first episode of Prehistoric Park.**


	3. One Long Day- Part 1

**One Long Day- Part One**

 _Control_

Despite only working for half an hour Graham was tired. The mountain of tasks before him seemed an impossibility to get through. Prehistoric Park was on the verge of opening to the public and he had to get as many problems fixed as soon as possible. He was just glad that he had Bogdan because, otherwise, fixing the problems would not just seem impossible, it would be impossible. At least the issues with the boat tour were almost fixed. On paper there seemed to be no more problems but he was going to have someone test it for him. In the field a whole heap of problems could to light. In the meantime he would have to set about fixing at least one of the other problems. The fencing would shut off during storms; you had to manually turn off one set of lights, a camera kept on shutting off in the aviary, the telephone lines regularly would cut out and that was just the start of it. Well, the other problems he didn't have to deal with. There were always issues with the animals and the staff could be just as bad. He had heard that a few bottles of wine on the more expensive side had vanished from the newly built hotel…

"I have fixed the issues with the lighting," Bogdan sighed leaning back in his chair. He looked virtually like a living corpse. Wanting to get as many problems sorted as possible before the park opened he had been doing a few late nights which was a bad idea when suffering from the flu. His colleague sneezed loudly and groaned. "Bogdan mate. Take the day off. You've done enough already."

"Mr Komon said…"

"Hiroshi will understand. I'll email him now." Despite the protests from Bogdan he sent an email. Within five minutes he received the reply. "He says have the day off and that you can have as much time off as you need until you get better. No buts, get your butt out of here."

After sneezing Bogdan said his goodbyes looking as ill as ever. Now to deal with the mountain of tasks before him. He could feel a migraine coming along just by looking at the long list of tasks. After a few minutes of typing he found the answer to at least one of the problems. The aviary camera, (and possibly even the reason why the fences shut off during storms), could be fixed easily but it involved rebooting the entire security system which could take hours to turn back on. Maybe an entire day at most. He would have to get permission from Morarji first; the Head Ranger had the final say-so over the security system. He pressed a few keys on the computer and got Morarji's headset number on the screen.

"Hello there. How can I help?" Morarji's voice came out from the speakers.

"Hi Morarji. It's Graham. I've found the problem with the aviary camera and why the fences turn off during storms but to fix it I need to reboot the security system." Remembering Morarji's phobia against technology developed after 1995 he decided to explain what rebooting the system entailed. "That means the security system will go off for some time."

He heard a groan come from Morarji. "How long will it be out for?"

"I can't say for certain. Between an hour and twenty-four hours." Morarji gave another deep groan.

"Well…With the storm the animals won't likely try any break outs. Go on then."

"Thanks Morarji." He sent out a message saying that the security systems would shut down until the next day at the latest. As a precaution he sent out another message saying that there would be a storm hitting the Nga Rara islands. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the security camera flick off. At that moment he realised that he should have also consulted Vincent Pikiao, the Head of Security. Pikiao wouldn't have (joint) control over the security systems until the park opened but that didn't mean that he liked being kept out of the loop. On the screen he saw that Vincent was ringing Control from his headset. _Great._ This was going to be a tiring day!

 _The Lodge_

Mike Washington sat outside casually drinking some soda. It was a boiling hot day but the sky in the distance was as dark as the night. He assumed it must be a storm. He took another sip of the refreshing soda. He didn't have to go with his dad. Yeah he had wanted to see his dad. Jesse Washington was a good dad despite the fact that he had to live in an entirely different country. The only reason why he didn't go along today was because he didn't want to be around his sister and her new boyfriend. Aged fifteen this kid Clarence was her first true boyfriend and to be frank he didn't want to see that. They were always confessing their undying love to each other and making puppy dog eyes constantly. It was nauseating. Not to mention how Clarence was a douchebag. Anyway, it wasn't like he had never gone around the park with his dad before. For the last five years he had been visiting the park. Heather had only been coming for the last year and she had never gone with dad on his rounds. Until last year their parents had been worried that Heather couldn't keep a secret so to avoid a possibly court injunction it was deemed that Heather was too young to come to the park.

His phone buzzed as he received a Facebook message from his girlfriend. _Have you been eaten yet?_ He replied: _Nah, I'm not really in the mood for that. Maybe later._ Almost instantly he got a message back: _Hurry up and get eaten. You're depriving them of their food and that's animal abuse._ He smiled and they messaged back and forth for a bit. When she clocked off for the day he sat there bored. You know what, let's act like a tourist. He had only ever been around the park with his dad. He had never been around the park as a tourist so might as well do so before the hordes of selfie takers, whining dicks and annoying couples got in the way. Where to start though? The aquarium? The reptile house? Maybe the aviary. Yeah the aviary sounded good. It was nearby and if the storm seemed closer than it appeared he could be inside when it hit.

The aviary wasn't too far away. Literally in about five minutes he was pushing open the door to the giant building. You couldn't tell from the front but the aviary even partially encompassed the waters around the islands. Just above the doors there was a large sign saying _Skies_ with an eagle flanking one 's' and a pterosaur flanking the other 's'. The entrance of the aviary was a large circular room with moving images on the wall of various flying animals, several small holograms and, a few blocks of text on signs and the walls about the inhabitants of the aviary. He decided to pass by the holograms and moving images to get straight to the main section of the aviary. He passed through an air tight door and then through a second one into the first section of the aviary. Immediately he felt like vomiting. Clarence was there hugging Heather from behind simultaneously nuzzling the back of her neck causing her to giggle.

"Christ," he said. It turned out he had said it loudly enough to cause Clarence to jump back in alarm. He jumped back towards Heather when a very large dragonfly flew straight towards his head. Mike had to give a little smirk at that. Clarence, however, looked like he could commit murder.

"Mike what are you doing here?" Heather demanded angrily. Daddy's little princess had turned into daddy's little pit bull surprisingly quickly.

"I can do whatever I want Heather. Where's dad?"

Heather pouted and put her hands on her hips in a pose strikingly similar to their mom. "Dad is looking at some of those mega-dragonflies. Why are you looking for him anyway? You didn't want to come earlier."

The reason why he didn't want to come was now looking smugly at him to Heather's left. How much he wanted to throw a quick punch at him. At that moment footsteps rang out on paving behind Heather. His dad rounded the corner just then.

"Mike my main man. Did you come to see your old man at work?" Mike shrugged giving Heather a dirty look. "Decided you want to join us?"

Mike sighed and nodded his head. He knew he couldn't turn down his dad a second time. Great, an entire day with someone with their head in the clouds and a self-entitled idiot. Just his luck.

 _Just outside the Perimeter Fence_

The jeep bounced over the road shaking her around. Really if they could afford to bring extinct animals from the past surely they could have spent money on paving the roads? Heather could never understand the thinking of some people. Like how Mike and her dad didn't like Clarence. She had to admit that sometimes he didn't listen but that was the only bad thing about him. He was polite to people, popular, smart, charming and not misogynistic. He did like to talk about his achievements quite often but wasn't it better to be a bit boastful than be falsely humble? In the back of the jeep she could see Mike sitting forlornly staring out the window.

"Dad I meant to ask on our last visit. If the animals aren't as dangerous as movies make them out to be why do you need a big fence around this area?" It was a curious point but mainly she wanted to break the awkward silence which could be cut with a knife.

"Just a precaution. We have some big animals so if one gets out, something unlikely to happen, they can't get to the staff or guests."

Heather nodded and went back to looking out of the window. The forest really did make her feel like they were in prehistory. It did not take much imagination to see a dinosaur walking through the undergrowth. Although she imagined the dinosaurs differently. It must have been because of TV shows and movies. She always imagined dinosaurs to be big scaly monsters regularly battling out to the death. It was after her first visit to Prehistoric Park that she found out they were radically different. Actually seeing them with all their feathers, bristles and different sizes made her realise just what a dinosaur was. Just a normal animal. An animal no different to an elephant or a lion or an ostrich. They just happened to be an animal that lived a very long time ago.

"Just got word," her dad just said "that storm is a definite tonight. Hey, you two haven't been in a tropical storm before. We don't have any big ones here but they are something special. Winds roaring like I don't know what and the rains…You have not seen it rain until you've seen one of these tropical storms."

Shit! What a perfect romantic night ruined! She had been hoping to sneak out that night with Clarence to the Herptile and Invertebrate House. There was a butterfly room which looked really romantic when the sun was setting. She had been looking forward to sitting in that room with butterflies fluttering around them as they watched the sunset in the arms of each other. Well that plan was ruined. They probably would get drenched by the time they reached the Herptile and Invertebrate House. Even if they miraculously reached the House without getting drenched they wouldn't get a romantic view of the sunset!

Now that plan had gone down the crapper she needed a new one. She could attempt to get her dad and Mike to like Clarence but as usual they'll interpret his honesty as being vain. That was a fricking impossibility! There was more chance of her building her own fricking time portal than getting her dad and brother to see sense. To be honest Clarence could just be as frustrating as they were! The only person who he ever listened to was her. If he ever bothered to listen to someone else it may be easier to convince others how good Clarence was. Frustrated she leant on the window thinking of something to do tonight. The forest around them was slowly thinning to be replaced by long grass and great, green ferns. Instead of the electric fencing and natural barriers used for other exhibits they passed the ordinary fencing found at parks all around the world. Behind the fencing she saw several llama like animals with strange long noses. They looked peaceful.

"So," her dad said "I thought tonight we could have some of my world famous pizza! I made some tomato puree last night and, I've got pepperoni and peppers. We'll have a pizza each with some soda and a movie. How's that sound to everyone?"

Clarence seemed eager for it but Mike gave a look of revulsion. He had been promised to go out at night to watch a raptor hunt. With him going to do animal behaviour at college he had wanted to get a good head start by watching virtually wild animals. Well raptors were nocturnal so to see a hunt they had to go out at night. They were leaving tomorrow night which meant this was the last time he could see an actual raptor hunt. Apparently dad's world famous pizza and a movie would leave no room for raptor watching. Her dad must have noticed Mike's frustration as well.

"I'm sorry Mike. With the storm it would be difficult to watch a raptor hunt. Anyway, you're coming back the day before the park opens so we have plenty of time to do dino watching without the rabid horde commonly called the general public."

It was disappointing. Her backup plan for if something went wrong with her butterfly room excursion was to join Mike and her dad raptor watching. It must be thrilling to watch a hunt. They were nothing like the films but they were still so…unnerving. The way they bobbed their heads and looked at you with beady, intelligent eyes. The way they would make chirrups, clicks and caws to better investigate their territory. Seeing a raptor hunt must make goose bumps travel up even the bravest of people's arms. All those factors combined to create one terrifying creature. It was possibly scarier than the movie raptors. Movie raptors just roared and made you scared because it was a scary animal. Real raptors got under your skin.

Over the tops of a clump of trees she could see the long neck of a dinosaur. What species it was she had no idea. Quickly she took a photo of the behemoth and posted the picture on her SelfieTime account. The last photo of an extinct animal she had taken instantly got over a hundred favourites in virtually no time. Since May 10th 2021, when the park had been announced, photos of extinct animals spread online and any that appeared anywhere, no matter how crappy, got instant e-fame. People who she knew who only lived for the latest trending band or the latest Apple product were even eager to get as much information about Prehistoric Park's residents. One person who only ever spoke about Andre Banks new album suddenly started messaging her asking for photos of dinosaurs and other extinct life. Prehistoric Park had not even opened yet and everyone regarded it as the greatest place on earth. It was understandable. These were animals beyond human imagination. Animals that were so alien but so real to humanity. Just last year the world looked at a fossil in the museum and saw something that had died so long ago it was impossible to imagine. Now they would look at the fossils and know those marvellous creatures were walking the earth once again.

 _The Docks_

"Bastard! Bastard!" George Langham could have thrown his mobile into the ocean. It had being going so well until that bastard made it all go to shit. It had been too good to be true. There had been virtually no violent waves going from Auckland. There had not been a cloud in the sky. They had arrived at the docks on the Nga Rara islands early for once. Of course it had all gone to shit thanks to that bastard. Damn him and damn Hiroshi Komon! _Stressed my ass!_ The world was kissing his ass so much that a dinosaur could break out and eat an orphanage and the world would still throw money at him.

Shinchoku Co. had opened a branch in genetics recently to use the DNA of extinct animals to help humanity. Hell most of the world's medicine developed since the 1980s had been only possible thanks to some obscure plant or animal in a rainforest so, Hiroshi must have assumed the next bunch of revolutionary cures could be found in the genes of extinct animals. Langham was supposed to go to Prehistoric Park, (with something this valuable no way would he let anyone else handle it's transport), meet one of the park's scientists who would give him the package at exactly ten in the morning and within ten minutes he would be heading back to New Zealand. He would give the package to customs and the government would do their thing. What that was he didn't give a crap about. Not his problem anymore. It was in safe and competent hands. He would be heading back home by then.

A few hitches came up but they were misnomers. Not allowed to fly to the islands because it would disturb the animals. Fine. He would take one of the small boats owned by Shinchoku Co. for staff to use. A storm was forecasted for today. Fine. They would be gone before the storm hit. Everything was going fine until that bastard made everything go to shit! Ten o'clock came and went. Of course it was fine being late. Then eleven came and went. When he rang someone to find out where his scientist was it transpired that the scientist had got his weeks missed up and was still on holiday in Hanoi! Hiroshi, however, was apparently too stressed to inform him! Fucking incompetents the lot of them! Now he had to get to the other side of the island, find the lab, get the paperwork signed, get back to docks and set off in an hour. The captain, if a four person boat could have a captain, would leave at half twelve with him on the boat or not because of the storm. Yes he could stay at Prehistoric Park that night but he had his son's eleventh birthday tomorrow which he would rather not miss.

"Shit!" George yelled in frustration. A few dockworkers looked at him with looks of contempt. "Aren't you lot supposed to be doing work? Piss off!"

He had no choice. He had to get a jeep. No way would those scientists dare leave their precious lab. Still angry at this farce he walked up to the stand by the pier. Someone inside was supposed to check passes, crates and the like so they should know where to get a jeep. Inside the stand a man in uniform was reading a magazine and sipping soup from a cup.

"Hey mate I need a jeep," he said. The uniformed man just looked at him stupidly.

"Your pass."

"What?"

"I need to see your pass first."

"You saw my pass earlier. Anyway if I'm this side of the pier I must have a pass."

"Sir I need to see your pass. It's just standard protocol."

"Fine," he spat throwing his pass at the uniformed man. The man looked at it, nodded and passed it back.

"What is your request?"

"To. Get. A. Jeep!" Incompetents.

"I'll get in contact with the Head of Security to see if you can get a jeep."

I'm going to kill someone.

 _Control_

After two hours the security systems were still offline. Vincent Pikiao had given him a verbal disembowelling which he hoped he would never have to go through again. At 6'3'' and built like an ox Vincent was a formidable looking person. Especially when he was stood behind you, muscles flexing and folded across his chest. In the area of Control where he and Bogdan worked you could get a good look of all security screens. Even though the screens were black Vincent was still looking at them intently. He had been doing so for the last half hour; he wanted to be ready for when the systems came back online.

"Vincent you watching the screens won't make them come back on any quicker."

"You said it could take a few hours. I want to be ready."

"I also said it could take up to twenty four hours."

Vincent grunted. "If you insist. I'm heading to the vending machines. Want anything?"

"Nah I'm fine."

Vincent nodded and walked out of the room. Now that Vincent wasn't breathing down his neck he could get some work done. He still had to hear about the boat tour and the malfunctioning lights in sector four would have to wait until tomorrow to know if they were fixed. The internet firewall was no up and running with no issues so that was one less problem to worry about. Now to see if he could find out why the keeper hub in the Dilophosaurus pen never recorded when they had been fed… The door opened and Vincent came back in eating a chocolate bar and, a magazine under one arm. He sat down in Bogdan's place.

"Vincent the cameras may not come on for a while."

"I know. Just thought you would want company."

"Oh…thanks. That's really thoughtful." Now that was unexpected. He continued typing away trying to see if the problem was due to a programming error. The keypad went dark as a cloud blocked the rays of the sun.

"Looks like the storm's arriving," Vincent commented.

"Yeah. I have a feeling it will be a long day."

 _The Docks_

George paced back on forth as the man stand was talking in a headset. This was taking too long! Every minute he waited was a minute closer to when the captain set sail. The roaring clouds of the storm was edging closer and closer the the Nga Rara islands. He then got called over at that moment by the guy in the stand.

"You've got permission to use a jeep," the staff member said. "Go to that building and type on the keypad 1416."

"Thank god" George cried and started hurrying towards the warehouse which the staff member had pointed to. However, the captain then came up to him.

"Hey I need to see a pass!" the stand man shouted.

"I'm just telling him something then I'll get back." He then turned to George. "I need to get off. My boat won't last ten minutes in that storm."

"Please I'm begging you. I've just got access to a jeep. Please just give me half an hour."

The captain grimaced. "Fine. In half an hour if you aren't back I'm setting off."

As the captain walked back to his boat George made a rude gesture. Bastard. He knew he shouldn't have paid in advance. This was going to be a long day he could tell.


	4. Mission 2- Tar and Sloths

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and a palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **Their next adventure they'll hunt for a sloth discovered by Thomas Jefferson, come face to face with a cheetah/puma hybrid and all while avoiding getting stuck in tar.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 2- Tar and Sloths**

 **The Nga Rara islands are now the most unique islands on planet for they now boast four species of extinct animals ranging from golden toads to the earliest dinosaurs. As the most recent residents of Prehistoric Park settle in to their new homes the park gets ready for the next set of inhabitants.**

Bob sat on the back of the park's many open jeeps absentmindedly throwing berries into the bushes. He had no idea if the Nyasasaurs liked berries. Were there even berries during the Triassic? He didn't know but what he did know was that every omnivore today liked raspberries so without a doubt a Triassic omnivore would like them. He heard a bird like chirrup to his left. One of the Nyasasaurs stood there with his head bobbing up and down like some sort of featherless bird. It was so interesting that these dinosaurs were so old that they had yet to evolve feathers! However, if you looked closely at their skin you could see black bumps where feathers would eventually come through. He had a brilliant idea then which would make him the first person in history to do this. He would be the first person in history to handfeed a dinosaur. The Nyasasaurs were quite shy animals, (could there have been an undiscovered large carnivore at the Manda Formation which made them like that?), and the closest anyone ever got to them was either when they were rescued or when the vets looked at them. No one had handfed them though. Carefully he pulled a sandwich from his lunch; he didn't want to scare the little dinosaur away. Bacon, lettuce and tomato. None of those existed in the Triassic but the Nyasasaur probably didn't know that.

"Come here little fellow," he said softly wafting the sandwich. "I won't bite."

The Nyasasaur cocked its head and looked hungrily at the sandwich. Slowly it walked up to the strange product which had been developed millions of years after his kind had vanished from the face of the earth. The dinosaur opened his mouth revealing several peg like teeth. Bob then almost fell off the jeep as the dinosaur snatched the sandwich and darted into the underbrush. Bob laughed heartily rearranging the camera on his forehead.

"Little tyke. He may have been a scavenger during the Triassic. I can tell you now if we get a T Rex I won't be doing that with them. Anyhow I best see what dinosaur our intrepid time travellers will be bringing me today."

 **Although Bob may not realise Prehistoric Park's residency plan is open to all extinct wildlife. Today Amelia and Phil are planning to rescue something which lived much after the Mesozoica, or as it is better known the Age of Dinosaurs.**

She had always hated the smell of tar. Her bedroom overlooked the road so whenever roadworks had to be done she had to endure the smell of it. Being a sulky teenager who is only understood by Gerard Way was made much harder thanks to that glutinous substance's smell. Phil, being the extravagant person that his is, decided to announce the next mission in his typical extravagant way. Hence, why they now stood on the Visitor Docks which were currently in the process of being built. There was a separate dock for supplies and staff but when Prehistoric Park opened its doors to the public they had to be given a special dock. It was almost the only place on the islands that were to have tarmac. Bob soon rounded the corner which she felt blessed by. The sooner they explained the mission the quicker they could leave the smell of tar.

"Does your next mission involve some form of coastal animal?" Bob asked twitching his impressive moustache.

"Not at all my friend!" Phil said smiling. "A friend of mine called Jack suggested to us that we rescue our next species. We are today going after the Jefferson's ground sloth!"

 **Not all sloths moved slowly and lived perpetually in trees. The Megalonyx jeffersonii, better known as the Jefferson's ground sloth, was just one of the many land dwelling relatives to the modern day tree dwelling variants who lived during the Ice Age.**

"First discovered in 1797 by Thomas Jefferson," Amelia started and smiled at Bob's expression. "Yes that Thomas Jefferson, as in the author of the Declaration of Independence and former president, but he thought it was the skeleton of a still extant animal. In 1825 someone called Richard Harlan properly described it. They went extinct around 11,000 years ago thanks to climate change at the end of the Ice Age and, humans pushing them over the edge."

"So why are we at the sea? I've seen a big ground sloth at the museum in London and that certainly did not live on the seaside!" Bob commented.

Amelia rolled her eyes. "We're here thanks to that!" She pointed to the tar. "We're going to the La Brea tar pits in California. Megalonyx bones have been found there. I've actually been to the site on holiday; hundreds of herbivores got trapped in the tar which attracted carnivores who in turn got trapped. We call them predator traps for that reason. We're hoping to rescue a few extra species from the tar as well."

"Wait!" Bob said. "I've been there as well. In the museum they found a buried woman in the tar. Will you see…you know…prehistoric humans?"

"Possibly but not her," Phil replied. "She's been carbon dated to around 10,000 BC or BCE depending on your preference. In other words sometime after our sloths went extinct. We could see humans but we're not allowed to interact with them. Orders directly from the UN. These cameras aren't just to get footage for an awesome TV show; they're there to make sure we don't do anything _unethical_."

 **The La Brea tar pits caught hundreds upon hundreds of animals annually. As their habitats change and from human hunting maybe the crew can rescue a Megalonyx or two from the edges of the tar.**

Compared to the differences between Triassic Tanzania to modern day Tanzania the differences between Ice Age California to modern day California were negligible. They were there though. No cloud trails from planes could be seen, the air was far cleaner and, in the distance there were no signs of the urban metropolises that dotted present day southern California. She had a Californian friend who was a naturalist; he would have loved it here. Behind her the drone pilot sent the whirring mechanical bird high into the air.

"We're connected. By next mission we should have cameras on that thing." Graham's voice said through her headset all the way from the future. Strange how they could communicate with the future but could not have a set of eyes in the sky. The helper Mike went to step out blindly until she caught him.

"Whoa there. Look." He was about to step straight into a puddle of glutinous tar. "Be careful Mike. We don't want you getting trapped and for us in eleven thousand years' time to see the anomaly of the prehistoric man with perfect teeth."

Mike gulped and stood back next to Phil looking scared. "Also modern day rural California is infested with rattlesnakes and I would think this would be true now." She added with a smile. Both Phil and Mike looked terrified. To reassure them she gave handed out some white walking sticks. "Tap the ground in front of you. You'll know then if you're heading in a tar pit or if a snake is in front of you. We don't want to end up like that guy."

The good news was that they had found a ground sloth. The bad news it was partially submerged in thick tar, almost devoid of flesh and, what was left of the flesh was being fought over by vultures. It did give her hope though. The presence of a dead sloth indicated that they must live in the area. Phil had told her two other ground sloth species were found at La Brea and she couldn't imagine there being too much of a difference between the sloths. If they found a species that wasn't a Megalonyx it could give them information about how to find one. They skirted the edges of tar pit until something caught her interest. It was a clump of faeces. Judging by how dry it was, and the Californian weather, it must have been a week old. She pulled a glove from her pocket and started dissecting it earning a series of disgusted noises from Mike.

"This is full of hair and claws. Still has some smell to it. Judging by the diet of a ground sloth this contains too much animal matter and protein to be the result of scavenging. This was from an animal whose entire diet consists of meat. Look! A few footprints. Footprint matches that of a cat, I've seen ones like it hundreds of times, and by the looks of it just one cat. This animal was solitary."

"That doesn't narrow it down much," Phil sighed. "La Brea is home to cougars, ring-tailed cats, and lions to name a few. Although some of them may have disappeared by now. Incidentally I did want to rescue a lion species."

"We may have our answer," Mike said pointing to the bushes ahead. There was a heard of pronghorn and possibly the largest bison she had ever seen. They were absentmindedly grazing and were oblivious to the cat hiding in the bushes. Even they could not make it out clearly. Amelia could tell for certain that the cat was not a species found today…

 **Meanwhile, in Prehistoric Park joint Head Vet Suzanne is having difficulties with some rather angry residents of the park.**

The Stenaulorhynchus rumbled and slammed his head against the side of the jeep. Suzanne was almost sent flying off of the back of the jeep and that was the last thing that she wanted. The jaws of the rhynchosaurs were perfectly adapted to tearing up the earth to get at the roots buried underneath. That meant her abdomen would quickly become pate if she had an unfortunate run-in with their teeth. Again the angry rhynchosaur slammed into the jeep.

 **The Stenaulorhynchus was rescued during the last mission from a possible long death by dehydration.**

Suzanne had been administrating a powder containing essential proteins and nutrients in the rhynchosaur water supply in order for them to build up strength. Dehydration killed by sapping all of your energy so proteins and nutrients were needed for a speedy recovery. When they arrived she had Bob fill up water troughs with the powder mixed in but when that got too violent she had been placing it their water supply. A glitch in the filtration system stopped the powder from being administrated from the safety of the keeper hub which meant journeys into the rhynchosaur exhibit were needed. Journeys which always ended with her being buffeted about like a weather during a twister by the territorial males.

"Morarji get down here quick or Prehistoric Park will need a new vet!" she yelled through her headset. When she heard another engine role into the exhibit the banging and grunting almost immediately stopped. She managed to peak out from her hiding spot on the jeep to see the rhynchosaur now furiously attacking a transport truck while Morarji had a bemused look on his face. _This job's going to kill me!_

 **Meanwhile, back in the tar pits of California our time travellers are about to witness a hunt.**

The cat slunk stealthily out of the bushes. It looked like a puma/cheetah mix. It had the short face and long legs of a cheetah, (perfect for maximising speed and oxygen capacity), but had the stockiness of a puma. The colouration was even a mix: the body of a puma but the head, legs and tail of a cheetah. It was obvious that this was America's answer to Africa's speedster. Back in Kenya she had seen cheetahs hunt so many times and this was exactly like a cheetah's hunt. Although cheetahs were fast at 112km/h they could not keep that speed up for too long. As a result they would stalk prey for a long time until the opportune moment. Those bison were far too large for the cheetah; instead the pronghorn was this cat's meal.

"Did the ancestors of cheetahs come through Siberia?" she asked Phil. Cheetahs could be found in Africa and Asia, (although human hunting had forced the Asian population into a small area of Iran), and she had heard humans came to America a frozen Bering Strait. Although she thought a cheetah doing so was unlikely. Cheetahs liked the open which Siberia, Alaska and the northern USA didn't offer. Leopards were a different matter but not cheetahs.

"In the 1970s it was thought that puma ancestors migrated back to the Old World," Phil whispered. "In 2006 mitochondrial DNA analysis found the likeliest answer for our American cheetah was parallel evolution. A common ancestor diverged millennia ago producing pumas for one habitat and cheetahs for another."

It was so interesting. Animals that lived on different continents had evolved to fit the exact same environments in the exact same way. They all jumped as a cat pounced. However, it wasn't the cheetah. Three cats had landed on a young bison near the edge of the herd. Startled both the bison and the pronghorn fled. The cheetah stood up and looked at the now empty plain dejected. She felt nothing but pity for this cat. Then she looked at the new cats as they silenced the warbled moans of the young bison. They were larger than the cheetah and had numbers on their sides. Just like in Africa; lions ruined the hunt of cheetahs. Except they weren't lions. The bloodied canines of the cats before her were far too large to be owned by a lion. Even then the body shape was all wrong. At that moment she remembered what one of the cats that lived here was.

"My goodness!" Phil frantically whispered as Mike looked pale. "Smilodon fatalis. Better known in the media as…"

"The sabre toothed tiger," she finished. Mike blanched. Then one of the Smilodon roared revealing why they had that namesake. "Phil when did the cheetahs go extinct?"

"Around now. Ah." He had realised what she had in mind. She was determined that not only a sloth would be saved today. Amelia whispered something to Mike who stumbled off back in the direction of the jeep as quietly as he could. Although she wanted to rescue a cheetah she also didn't want to be the meal of one. The cheetah stood there panting through a mixture of the heat and anxiety. If the plains of California were anything like the plains of Kenya then the cheetah would not be top dog, (or cat), around here. Lions were the biggest killers of cheetahs and most cheetah cubs were killed by lions. Although lions could go for bigger animals they effectively hunted the same things as cheetahs. Another big cat around meant more competition. Likely the Smilodon would do the same. This got confirmed when the alpha arrived. He bared his two formidable scimitars in his mouth which caused the cheetah to bear its far smaller canines. She thought it was a wise idea that the cheetah backed off several paces.

"Why hasn't it run off?" Phil asked.

"Likely it wants to scavenge. With the arrival of humans and climate change scavenging off of more successful carnivores must be an easy option." The cheetah sat on its haunches looking eagerly at the bison as the alpha Smilodon tore into the dead bison. Mike did not seem to like this at all judging by the face he made when he arrived with a chunk of meat wrapped in packaging. Happy she stuck her tar/snake finding stick into the ground and placed the meat on the top after removing it from the packaging. After placing the portal sticks firmly in the ground just behind the stick she wrapped some rope from her bag around the pole.

"Well time to explain my plan," she said gesturing to the camera on her head. "That cheetah is likely starving. I've…erm…placed this meat on a stick…" She pulled a face when Mike gave a slow, sarcastic clap. "The time portal is behind the stick. We'll get the cat's attention and seeing the meat will come to investigate. When close to the stick I'll pull it back, the hungry cheetah will follow and then Phil will open the portal. The wind's in the wrong direction so we can't rely on the smell of the meat."

"Leave it to me!" Mike said happily. "CHEETAHS ARE DICKS!"

Well it certainly got the cheetah's attention…and the Smilodon. As they hid back in the undergrowth she punched Mike extremely hard in an area where he didn't want to be punched. She gave a sigh of relief when the Smilodon returned to their bison feast, or sitting on their haunches to join in later on the feast. The cheetah hungry for food slowly lopped towards the meat. It was all going to plan! Just as the cheetah was on the meat Mike pulled the rope sending the stick and meat flying backwards. Eager for food the cheetah continued forward until…WHOOSH. The portal opened and Amelia could just see the tail of a cat slink through.

"Wait we didn't tell Control," Phil said as the portal closed.

 **At the park joint Head Vet Jesse has already started tending to the newest resident but Bob is not too happy.**

"Almost took my bleedin' arm off!" he yelled. He was happily preparing for his sloth to arrive when it happened. He was just putting out some fresh lettuce, which he was sure any sloth on the verge of extinction would love to try, when the portal opened. That had surprised him. Maybe they had returned empty handed for a retry? Nope. Some mixture of a cheetah and a puma had burst through! If it wasn't for the fact that the cat was equally as confused to be in the 21st century as he was to see it in the 21st century he would probably be premium cat food now!

"She's doing fine. Doesn't seem to be carrying any harmful pathogens and she's not lactating so the team doesn't have to look for cubs," Jesse told him as they looked down at the cat happily eating a chunk of some unfortunate cow. "How about Cheshire for a name?"

"I don't care. Call her 'Not Bob's friend' for all I care. Well until I came down from the shock at least!" He knew with this job he would eventually need a hard drink but he never thought it would be this early. At a stab in the dark he would guess the cat was an American cheetah but he would wait until the park's other palaeontologist, Alfred Steiner, had a look. Dr Steiner's asthma meant he could not run around the past with the others so he stayed at the park. He was glad though that they had rescued the cat. He had loved working with the big cats at his old job and, it would bring some normality to the world which revolved around dinosaurs, giant bugs and the monstrosities which nature had cooked up. However, that was all in the future, and the past for that matter.

 **Meanwhile, in Ice Age La Brea the team have decided to head back to their starting point to hunt for Thomas Jefferson's elusive giant sloth.**

She knew it was a mistake to continue in the direction that the cat prints took them in. Well, a mistake trying to find a sloth. The park's new cheetah was definitely no mistake. She could have kicked herself though for thinking they could find a sloth in that direction. What animal would want to be found at the hunting ground of both cheetahs and sabre toothed cats! Back at the jeep site she had set to work finding more clues of the whereabouts of a sloth. She may have even found a clue. There was a recent set of tracks which looked very bizarre. The hind legs of this animal had sprawling clawed toes while the other set of limbs made the animal look like it walked on knuckles like an ape. However, the even weight distribution on both sets of prints made it seem that this animal walked like a bear. What was even more interesting was a tuft of dark yellow fur on a tree branch almost two metres off of the ground.

"By the height of the fur and these prints we may have found us a sloth," she concluded. "Whether it is Mr President's sloth is a different matter."

Leaving the drone pilot, Jean, in the safety of the jeep they set out once more following the tracks of the sloth. They must have been recent if they could still be clearly seen. A few snapped branches and tufts of brown fur caught on the occasional branch indicated they were going in the right direction. Luckily no accidents involving the tar happened this time. With everyone looking firmly at the ground it was easy to spot and manoeuvre themselves around the stray pits of the noxious substance. The prints seemed to lead to some bushes stuck oddly in the dusty plains like someone had started making a garden but gave up half way. The bushes were leaning to and fro haphazardly and one even had its roots exposed. As they got closer they saw that the bushes surrounded a large hole. Looking closer Amelia noticed that long claws had dug this hole. Wait it wasn't a hole, it was a burrow.

"There is a theory that Megalonyx and other ground sloths would dig burrows for protection," Phil explained. "Do you think this is a sloth burrow?"

Just like an aardvark. She couldn't but help notice the similarities. "I think so. It isn't complete yet though. And…"

"What's that smell?" Mike asked. There was a musky smell nearby. Being adventurous Amelia went in the direction where the scent was strongest. A large animal with shaggy brown fur was rubbing itself against a bush. It had a head like a horse but less streamlined and covered in thick fur with large black eyes. The creature had long arms which ended in sloth like claws and it also had a short tail. It looked exactly like the photos of ground sloths in the books she had seen.

"Phil is it a Megalonyx or the one of the others?" she whispered. The sloth heard her. Angry the sloth turned around and stood up making itself almost two metres tall. Its underbelly was dark yellow in colour. The sloth made a rumbling sound like an elephant which she recognised from her years in Kenya: _go away or I will harm you_. Taking the message they backed off. Happy that he had fended off the attackers the sloth returned to his quadrupedal stance.

"Too tall to be Paramylodon and too bulky to be Nothrotheriops," Phil panted. "It's our sloth."

"Guys I have a plan," Mike panted. She was surprised. Mike never struck her as a planner. "You said that it was a burrow. Like what rabbits live in. Even if it's not finished wouldn't it go sleep in it?"

"Yeah," Amelia replied excited. "We just have to put the portal at the entrance! Mike you're a genius!"

 **It may be all well and good to make a plan to catch a sleepy sloth but you have to have a sleep sloth to enact the plan.**

Tired beyond belief Amelia took another sip of coffee from a flask. In preparation they had put the portal down and told Control that when the sloth got tired they could rescue it. That was four hours ago. It was still content rearing up to strip leaves from the trees with his massive claws which he would then eat using his long purple tongue. It was neat though. They were for both defence and were eating utensils. To her right Phil was asleep with his guide over his face, (exactly how her dad sleeps), while Mike was slunk over the cooler in a stupor. Jean was asleep hugging the drone like how a child hugs a teddy bear and mumbling about a Colette. The same sun that she had seen in 2016 and the Triassic slowly set across the Californian plains casting purple light across the landscape. She sat up suddenly. The sloth ambled towards the burrow and, more importantly, the portal. Just as it was on the portal she opened it. Success!

 **Prehistoric Park now has a Jefferson's ground sloth among the inhabitants!**

She had blocked out Bob's complaints of 'setting a cheetah' on him. Amelia knew he was ecstatic about both the sloth and the cheetah but at the same time she knew he didn't want to lose face. Right now Thomas the Megalonyx was happily eating lettuce from the trough in front of him. The sun had almost disappeared now behind the horizon and darkness had soon replaced the purple glow cast by the sun. Thomas would be moved to his new exhibit the next morning largely for two reasons. The first was that Suzanne had found ticks on him so they had to wait until the ticks had been killed. The second was that there were no keepers to help move him. Prehistoric Park only had two nocturnal animals: the Nyasasaurs, (which were technically cathemeral), and Scamp the Diademodon. None of these required many keepers to watch over them. Thomas, it seemed, had to wait until the next day to appreciate his new life.

"Ah my beautiful sloth!" Hiroshi declared happily upon climbing up the walkway. He looked warmly at the sloth like a proud parent looking at their child. "Rescued from a habitat vanishing through climate change, rescued from potentially being caught up in tar and, being a species discovered by an American president. Why do I have a feeling American tourists will love him?"

"We're planning tomorrow to rescue a female," Amelia explained tiredly.

"Perfect! We can call her Martha after the First Lady. Thomas and Martha, Prehistoric Park's first mated pair. Fantastic!" She had no idea where that man got his energy from.

 **As Thomas moves into his new home the time travellers must return to the La Brea pits to rescue a possible mate for the world's first ground sloth in 11,000 years.**

Igor had placed them at a larger tar pit. Hopefully this would mean that they could find a sloth sooner. The tar bubbled in the hot Californian sun. Large noxious black bubbles burst with loud gurgles. It was like the land itself was liquefying in front of them. Caws of buzzards and the extinct condor Teratornis could only be heard as they fought over the decaying corpses submerged in the black mire. Seeing vultures in Kenya had desensitised her to the wonders that were the diet of scavengers. One buzzard pulled out the eye of a coyote and greedily ate it much to the dismay of Phil. The eye-guzzler's compatriots were busy nipping at the insides of bison which had become trapped who knows how long ago.

"This is amazing to see," Phil commented, possibly for the camera. "Teratornis. They are actually larger than the Andean condor and they are just beautiful." She nodded in agreement. Suddenly Mike called them over and they were met with a low grunting noise. A sloth, female judging by the lack of the musky smell, had gotten submerged in the tar. It was a Megalonyx as well. She thrashed and made pitiful moans of torment as she her attempts to free herself failed. Overhead condors and buzzards circled eagerly awaiting fresher food.

"The poor thing. That's how the tar kills them. They get trapped and eventually die from exhaustion, dehydration, starvation or a combination of them all."

 **If the team does nothing the ground sloth will slowly die. They have to act quickly though. The more the sloth struggles the more she gets embedded in the tar.**

"We have to help her!" Mike cried.

"Mike, Phil there's a dead tree there. Break off a large, sturdy branch each. Jean put the drone down; we can go five minutes without communication. Good. Now Jean tie the end of this rope to the front of the jeep."

She tied her end into a lasso. When Jean had tied his end she threw the lasso. The first attempt was wide off the mark. So were the second and the third. Finally the fourth went around the collar and left arm of the sloth. At that moment Phil and Mike returned with a branch each.

"Jean get in the jeep and lightly reverse. Not too hard or we'll hurt her. Phil and Mike use the branches as a lever and get it below her. Avoid the tar; we don't want you to get stuck."

As they did that she started pulling on the rope. Instinctively the sloth turned as much as it could in her direction. She had squelching noises as the branches were forced into the tar. Faintly she could see the sloth's body rise from the tar. With the force from the jeep, and her pulling the rope, the sloth started to come free. Both of the men readjusted their branches to help lever the sloth further out of the tar. Amelia could see that the sloth was almost freed. Instantly she ran just before the tar and forced the time portal down into the earth. With one more tug from the jeep the sloth was freed. Amelia opened the portal and sent the sloth through. Almost cheering she called Jean to drive the jeep through the portal. They had done it. They had… She recognised that sound from anywhere. It was the low rumble of an elephant.

"Oh my goodness!" Phil cried. "Mammoths!"

They looked like elephants but they were gigantic. The largest bull African bush elephants were not even as tall. The matriarch must have been four metres tall and those tusks! They were something out of legends. She had thought elephant tusks were impressive but they made their tusks look like penknives. Like an elephant they were mostly hairless so unlike their northern cousins this mammoth species was perfectly adapted for warmer climates. She could have cried.

"Columbian mammoths," Phil cried. Tears streamed down his face. "They are beautiful. Found across the southern United States all the way down to Costa Rica. These magnificent creatures lasted until 11,000 years ago when like the sloths and so many megafauna climate change decimated their numbers. Human hunting pushed them over the edge. My goodness they are so amazing. I feel so privileged to see them."

The matriarch roared with her mighty trunk in the air. Then she realised they were coming straight towards them. The only thing separating them from the tar pits was the time portal…

"Phil I think you're going to be even more privileged."

 **Prehistoric Park has just acquired a new herd of residents and just how mighty they are.**

"Elephants! Elephants!" Bob shouted almost hysterically in happiness. "Ha ha! Do you guys know the difference between elephants and sloths?"

"Not elephants," Amelia corrected smiling. "Mammoths. Or to be precise Columbian mammoths."

"Mammoths? Mammoths!" Bob cried hysterically. "Actual mammoths!"

The matriarch roared once more as she walked through the corridor in the holding pen. Nobly the mammoth walked her herd away from extinction and into a new world.

 **As the park settles down the mission comes to a close. After a lengthy amount of time Martha the ground sloth is successfully cleaned up and moved to her new home with her new partner, Cheshire the American cheetah is given plenty of room to hunt away from the envious sabres of Smilodon and the mammoth herd now has the honour of being the earth's largest land animals…for now!**

 **Rescued this chapter:**

2 Megalonyx jeffersonii. 1 male, 1 female.

1 American cheetah. 1 female.

13 Columbian mammoths. 12 female, 1 male.

 **Seen but not rescued:**

Giant bison.

Pronghorn (not extinct).

Smilodon fatalis.

Teratornis merriami.

Turkey vulture (not extinct)

Pleistocene coyote

 **Trivia and note:**

 **1\. This is the only request that I'm doing for the foreseeable future. This one was suggested by Jack905 who also requested this mission back when I was doing Extinction World. I did seriously consider doing though each of the other requests and I tried to reference each request in this story/allude to it.**

 **2\. The references/allusions to the requesters that I managed to put in. Jack905 is briefly mentioned, Drew asked for Atlas elephants so I put in mammoths, Park Guest asked for a mission for South African animals and the first one he/she mentioned was the Cape lion so that is why Phil mentions a lion mission and, Guest wanted Titanis and he/she mentioned Smilodon so that is why a pack appears.**

 **3\. The Smilodon scene was going to contain a new theory that I have read but I felt it may be appropriate for a later date (hint, hint).**

 **4\. Camelops were going to appear but not be rescued. I cut that as it felt shoehorned in.**

 **5\. Jean mentions a Colette as my way of honouring the other Prehistoric Park inspired world made by Drew. (Sorry I have yet to read it but my real life friend Mortal's Friend told me there was a character called that so I thought best honour what came before me).**

 **Notes: I may do a request mission in the future so please do not be disheartened if I didn't pick yours. With the missions I am not doing a next time at the end. Partially as if I have to cancel the story, which I hope won't happen, it may lessen the frustration and I like to keep you all wondering. Thanks for reading and until next time.**


	5. One Long Day- Part 2

**One Long Day- Chapter 2**

 _The Docks_

The warehouse was stuffy and humid. Several jeeps were faintly illuminated by several flickering lights attached to a railing running from one wall to another. It looked abandoned. If the public could see this aspect of Prehistoric Park they would want their money back. Poorly lit and moth infested the warehouse did not scream high-tech, safe and the future. George looked at the key in his hand which had a big red six on it, (as well as six in Mandarin and Japanese), indicating that he needed to go for jeep six.

"Ah! Shit!" George yelled as an unusually large moth flew at his face when he opened the door of jeep six. Did that bastard escape from the insect house or something? He hated bugs. All the nature documentaries said that giant bugs lived in the tropics and, that giant bugs lived in the past. Really this place had the worst of both worlds. The electric jeep silently whirred as he turned on the engine. Everything will go smoothly from now on. Just a simple drive to the lab, pick up the package, fill out the paperwork and then drive back to the docks. He drove towards the entrance but…how could he drive the jeep out of the warehouse? Faintly lighted by the weak lighting was a sign on the warehouse door reading: _Access Code Required to Exit_. Access code? Where the hell would he get an access code? In anger he hit the dash board causing the glove compartment to spring open. Lousy, cheap piece of sh…He spotted a thick book with _Prehistoric Park Worker's Manual_. In fact there were several but the others were in other languages. A few other items were in the compartment including a torch and a flare.

"There better be an access code in there."

He grinned. The contents page said that access codes could be found on page six. Thankfully before the manual gave a list of the access codes it told him how to actually use the access codes. Thankfully, as well, the codes were in alphabetical order. Ah… _Docks, Maintenance, Jeep Warehouse: 0604_. According to the manual when in a jeep he had to type the codes into the little computer on the dashboard which looked like one of those Satnavs that cars used to have ten years ago. The screen was black though. He hated technology! Not as much as bugs but he hated it regardless. Frustrated he waved his hand in front of the screen. Surprisingly it worked and a little blue light turned on just above the screen. He practically jumped when a hologram burst from the little blue light. The hologram had Shinchoku Co. written in big letters. This was neat, like something from Star Wars or one of those other sci-fi movies. He took his previous words back that Prehistoric Park wasn't futuristic! Several flags appeared on screen and next to the New Zealand flag were the words: _Please select language_. He pressed the New Zealand flag and then a whole new screen flashed before him on the hologram. One of them said: _Access Codes_. Eagerly he pressed the hologram. The screen changed again saying: _Synching with local point. Synch complete. Please enter code_. Outside he heard a ping.

"Okay. 0. 6. 0. 4." The screen then glowed green and read: _Code accepted_. In front of him the corrugated iron door rattled open revealing the slowly receding Pacific sun.

"Now we're getting somewhere." The screen had gone back and then he noticed a button saying _Navigation_. Smiling he pressed it and a new screen asked where he wanted to go. After typing in the destination the screen once again to show a map of the island that he was on. A thin blue line stretched from where he was all the way to his destination.

"Hiroshi Komon you may have piss poor organisation skills but you're technology is definitely fantastic."

He noticed the line passed a few animal enclosures. He hadn't ever been around Prehistoric Park before. Maybe he could see a dino or two on his way.

 _Jurassic Giants_

"Keep the branch loose in your hands otherwise he'll pull you off your feet," Bob told Heather. The giant dinosaur gave a rumble as he opened his mouth in eagerness to eat the leaves on the branch. Jesse could see the peg like teeth in the sauropod's mouth as he went after the leaves. The bristles on the top of the dinosaur's head and neck briefly flicked up and down as he reached for the branch in Heather's hands. There was a crunch as the sauropod finally managed to grab the branch. With a flick of his head the sauropod managed to pull apart most of the branch which made Heather giggle in happiness. Jesse couldn't help but smile.

"So dad what type of sauropod is this? A Diplodocus?" Mike asked struggling with a female who was now trying to tear off leaves from his branch.

"No these guys are Camarasaurus. They lived alongside Diplodocus though."

Gently, he stroked the scaly nose of the sauropod. Sauropods were a bit like the elephants of the Mesozoic. Both had little of the bristles which characterised the other members of their groups, (hair for mammals and feathers for dinosaurs), both ate a tonne, both lived in herds and both drastically shaped their habitats. Both animals would tear down trees in the quest for food but, at the same time, both would create new habitats thanks to their deforestation and spread seeds in their dung. However, there were many differences. Intelligence being one of them…

"Will we get to feed the dinosaurs when Prehistoric Park opens?" Heather asked eagerly as the Camarasaurus went in for another bite.

"Sorry no princess. Sometime soon we're putting glass on this side of the walkway. It's for the best. It could be dangerous in case one of these guys pulls someone off of the edge. Not to mention how someone might want to feed one of them something like pizza."

"So no burgers, hot dogs or fried chicken for you," Heather laughed as the Camarasaurus sniffed at the branch. "Did you have a Kentucky Fried Pterodactyl in the past?"

Confident that Heather could ably feed the sauropod Bob let go of her arms. She gave another giggle as the Camarasaurus pulled more leaves from the remainder of the branch. It had been years since he had seen the kids this happy. Mike had never smiled this broadly since the divorce. Being older than Heather he had taken notice of it more than his younger sister. That was all the way back in 2013 and he could plainly see that not all things had been resolved eight years later. A happy, bubbly boy had gone quiet and taciturn. Both kids had resented him for the divorce so the job at Prehistoric Park seemed a good option. Although he died inside being apart from his children he had to spend some time apart to ensure that they're relationship wouldn't be permanently damaged. Flying back to America a few times each month allowed their relationship to be revived; ironically something possible thanks to Shinchoku Co. reviving the Concord making his family ever so much more accessible.

"That storm doesn't look to good. Look's as bad as the one we had in 2016," Bob commented looking grimly at the foreboding storm clouds raging in the distance.

"God that was the bad one. It made all the others look practically nothing."

On his right Heather's boyfriend Clarence looked worriedly at the sauropods in front of them. He could understand his trepidation if they were feeding a trike but not a Camarasaurus. Yes they could shatter a thick tree like it was a toothpick but, normally they only used their impressive strength when threatened by something like an Allosaurus or Torvosaurus. He might as well use this time to show Heather that he did care. A good way to alienate yourself from your children was to show open disdain for their love interests.

"Clarence do you want to feed one. It'll be your only chance."

"I'll be fine Mr Washington. I mean…I…I."

"It's okay to be wary around them Clarence. They are some of the largest animals to walk the land. Come on I'll help you feed one."

He pulled off a branch and waved it over the edge of the walkway. A Camarasaurus took notice and walked over to the branch. He imagined an equivalent for humans would be waving a bowl of pasta in front of someone. As the sauropod came closer with each heavy thud he gave the branch to Clarence before grabbing one of Clarence's arms with his left hand and, the branch with the right.

"Okay Clarence. Hold the branch firmly. Sauropods like Camarasaurus can't chew like a giraffe so they tear leaves off instead. You need a firm grip or it will just take the branch with it. Second, if it's pulling too much just let go or it'll take you with it. Finally, be calm. Heather says you're laid back. Just be laid back and our Camarasaurus will be as well."

Clarence nodded looking pale. Probably telling him that a Camarasaurus could pull you off your feet may not be a good idea. He grew paler as the sauropod placed its head over the railing of the walkway. The bright colours of the bristles on the sauropod's head indicated it was a male. Clarence started shaking.

"Don't worry. He won't hurt you."

As Clarence was still shaking the Camarasaurus took the first bite. He felt the boy tense under his arm when the dinosaur clamp down on the branch. He himself tensed as the sauropod twisted his head to tear off the branch's leaves. After the first bite Clarence had stopped tensing and was beaming when the sauropod took a second bite. Jesse noticed Heather grinning widely and record the scene on her mobile. After the third bite the Camarasaurus had devoured the branch.

"Hey Heather did you see that? Fed a dinosaur! Piece of cake. Easiest thing ever!"

"Weren't saying that when the Camarasaurus was eating the branch," he whispered to Bob who chuckled.

In the distance he could a single jeep trundle across the road.

 _Control_

Vincent sat the desk doing a crossword puzzle. His new friend, Graham, was busy typing away at the computer with lines upon lines of code flashing across it. His son was aiming to be a computer programmer so that was the only reason why he knew that Graham was looking at somethings called algorithms. What an algorithm was he had no idea but that wasn't his job. He found humans much easier to deal with.

Comparing his and Graham's problems, for example, perfectly showed this. With Graham's job anything could be wrong with an algorithm whereas humans were creatures of habit. If someone found they could do something easily they will always repeat it. Over the last two weeks six expensive bottles of wine had gone missing. The manager of that particular hotel had bought a dozen expensive bottles of wine, against Hiroshi's will, in preparation for guests with more expensive tastes arriving. Vincent knew it would be a bad idea and the temptation for pricy alcohol had been too much of a temptation for one, (or more), staff members. He had discovered though how the wine was being stolen. The thief, or thieves, had been swapping the expensive wine with a cheap one during the mealtime rush. To prepare the waiters and cooks in the hotel Hiroshi had requested that as many staff as possible dine at the hotel restaurant and, that the meal would be free. Naturally everyone took advantage of this and the cheeky bugger that was the thief swapped the wine when people were busy eating. Just yesterday Graham had fixed the security cameras in the restaurant so now he could catch the thief red handed next time they struck. That is until the security system had to be shut down.

"Who asked for a jeep?" Graham suddenly asked him.

"Can't remember his name. Grant or Gerard or something like that. Well the database said he's some project manager from Shinchoku Co. coming to pick something up from the labs."

A bright light all of a sudden flashed across the skyline. A deep rumble broke the silence. Vincent could see several large raindrops angrily land on the glass.

"Storm's here."

Another flash and another rumble followed. The door to Control opened and Amelia came in tying her long hair into a ponytail. She looked up at the skyline which only showed angry grey clouds roaring ahead accompanied by the continuous thuds of raindrops.

"Jeez that storm looks like a killer," she commented. "Quite a few of the animals are going crazy thanks to it. I just hope it doesn't go like last time."

The Great Storm of 2016. Vincent had heard much about it. Prehistoric Park was in its infancy, just a few species inhabiting the park, and it almost came crashing down in one night. To be honest Prehistoric Park has almost come crashing down so many times it's just business as usual when something awry happens. Amelia went and sat on the desk behind them flicking through the Prehistoric Park guide which had been published for when guests finally arrived.

"I had been thinking of recording the raptor hunt tonight," Amelia said absentmindedly flicking through the guide. "Think I'll give that a miss. It's not like I can't record the next hunt."

He saw that the page that she was looking at had the snarling face of a raptor on it. A shiver ran down his spine. It must have been those dinosaur movies which caused it. Those scaly monsters were a far cry from the real things but those images were always at the back of his mind. Only once or twice had he actually ventured out into the park. Of course when he first arrived on the Nga Rara islands he had gone out into the park. Who wouldn't want to see real life extinct animals? However, after his first excursion he had a job to do. Maybe if he had been to the park during break times his fears of raptors may have been alleviated. Well it was too late now. With the wine thief and the park soon opening to the public that would leave little time for watching animals.

"Shit!" Amelia cried as there was a particularly loud clap of thunder. He practically could feel the windows in Control shake. He would hate to be out in this weather.

 _Somewhere in the park_

God dammit! Half an hour had passed since he had set off from the dock. That bastard of a boat 'captain' had only given him half an hour to get back with the package. He hoped that the threat to leave without him was an empty one. It was 2021, and humanity had managed to create colonies on Mars, cure HIV and make a time portal to rescue extinct animals from extinction. If all that was possible then surely storm resistant boats were available? None of that would have been an issue if that prat at the docks had just given him a jeep. Or if he hadn't just hit this blasted pothole!

Well, he had also stopped briefly to look at those long necked dinosaurs. What were they called again? Brontosaurus? It was the first time he had actually seen a real life extinct animal. He had seen the images of them on the news and the internet when Prehistoric Park had been announced but he had never seen one in the flesh. They were amazing. Such noble creatures. He had always imagined the brontosaurus to be some ungainly, stupid, slow buffoons whereas these dinosaurs were so much more different. He had to take a photo of them. If that obnoxious dick had actually set off with his stupid boat at least he had a photo of an actual brontosaurus for his son. Yeah he might be late for his son's birthday but he was sure that all that would be forgotten with just one photo. With his son though, Deborah would be a very different matter…

There was a clap of thunder which made him focus. In an instant a torrent of rain fell from the heavens. Heavy droplets thundered across his windshield and it seemed that the droplets threatened to shatter the glass into hundreds of tiny pieces. Frantically the wipers swept back and forth to keep at bay the fury of the rain. He could barely see! On his left through the roaring water he could see the largest elephant he had ever seen running towards a clump of trees for shelter. Poor bugger. According to the map he was passing a mammoth enclosure. Well that mammoth must have alopecia because that one definitely wasn't woolly! At that moment all he could hear was the continuous thud of rain and the squeaking noise of the wipers as they dragged themselves along the windscreen. Desperate for more visibility he put the jeep's fog lights on. The rain was that thick that the high intensity of the headlights did next to nothing. None of this would have happened if that bastard hadn't decided to go to Hanoi today!

"Shit!" he yelled swerving the jeep. He hadn't seen the other jeep heading the other direction. That was the last thing that he needed. Did Prehistoric Park even have a place for people injured in car crashes?

His heart still beating ten to the dozen he looked down at the map on the screen. Thank goodness he was nearing the labs. Looks like he had to pass through some fencing to get to the labs. Through the torrential rain he could see some four metre high electric fencing with a vehicle shaped door built into it. Assuming it was the place to go he drove to the fence. Something flashed on the screen reading: _Synching with local point. Synch complete_. He picked up the Prehistoric Park guide again looking for the access codes. There was a sign on the fence saying: _Fence Gate C_. The wind caused the sign to bounce up and down on the fencing. He searched the book for the access code and found it. There was a loud mechanical clunk and the gate slid open. Happy for once he drove through the gate which closed with another clunk behind him. According to the map to get to the labs he had to go left, then right, then right again and then a final left. He drove past a restaurant which had a large sign on the roof saying _Cretaceous Café_ in English, Mandarin and Russian and, a dinosaur biting a burger. Just as he rounded the corner his phone rang. He recognised the number as that of the 'captain'.

"Speak to me!" George said. His phone had linked to the jeep's screen and the 'captain's' face appeared on the hologram. Since 2019 actually seeing the person on the other end of the line had become the standard deal for ninety percent of all phone calls. It was a shame that Captain Ahab had chosen to do a video call because now he couldn't bullshit him how far he actually was from collecting the package.

"George…" the line was fuzzy thanks to the storm. There was some lag in the video and the voice was crackly. "Wh…ere…are…"

"Captain I couldn't read that."

"Where are…uo?" On the screen he could see a large wave splash around the speaker. "We need…o…go."

"I'm coming. You can't see it but I have the package in the back of the jeep. Just hang tight!"

"You…hav…en…" The line cut off. Shit he was cutting it fine.

 _Outside the Perimeter Fence_

"Dickhead!" Mike's dad yelled. "Who the hell drives that fast in this rain?"

Mike shrugged and started flicking through the book on his lap. They were supposed to be home right now but his dad had left something at the Jurassic Giants exhibit so they had to go back. Bored he looked through the book trying to block out the giggling noises from the back of the jeep. At least the torrential rain helped drone out the giggling somewhat. He could have killed his dad for letting Clarence feed that Camarasaurus. He had been boasting ever since that he was one of the few people to ever feed a dinosaur. It's not like anyone else in the car had ever fed a dinosaur! He had been crapping his pants when the sauropods had first arrived.

Irritated he looked through the book again. After a few seconds he decided to read about the Nyasasaurus. The book he was reading had been published by Shinchoku Co. to describe each of the park's inhabitants. According to the book the Nyasasaurus was not only one of the earliest dinosaurs but Prehistoric Park's first dinosaur. In fact they were so old that they had yet to evolve feathers like some of the more recent dinosaurs in the park. It was a really good book having information on everything from golden toads to dodos to giant Columbian mammoths.

"Heather can you pass me that raincoat?" his dad asked.

Heather passed him a blue coat before he ran outside. The furious wind and rain buffeted him about as he ran towards the wooden stairs of the walkway. The sky above became illuminated thanks to another crack of lightning. A clap of thunder soon followed afterwards. In the back Heather and Clarence were muttering about butterflies. Didn't one of those singers that used to be a Disney star have a song out called butterflies? He didn't know and didn't care. Heather liked to complain that people at her school were obsessed with trivial things like celebrities but she was just as bad. He knew for a fact that she could name every person in the charts but not know anything about the pro-democracy protests in Saudi Arabia or the establishment of an independent Scotland or the UN manned mission to one of the moons of Mars. He felt Clarence was to blame. Before they got together she had no qualms in discussing international politics; in fact at age fifteen she had practically already decided to major in international politics or something along those lines. Clarence, however, was deemed to be one of the 'popular kids' and an interest in international politics were seen as 'uncool'. As a result for Heather to appear as an acceptable partner for Clarence she had to downplay her love for politics. Really? The ideas of 'cool' and 'uncool' had been decided in the 1950s. If America could put a man on the moon, wipe out the Jim Crow laws and not blow itself up in a war with the Soviet Union then shouldn't it have done away with this cool vs. uncool idea?

"I love you Heather," he heard Clarence whisper.

He could have vomited. Flicking through the book again he landed on a page which interested him. Dakotaraptor. In fact that was the raptor which he had been promised to see hunt tonight. Seeing a real Dakotaraptor hunting her prey must be amazing. Screw it. He was going to see the hunt. He had never smoked, never drank, never took drugs or disobeyed his parents. For eighteen years he had been a model son. After eighteen years he must have one night at least of disobeying what a parent said. Anyway it wasn't something big. His dad hadn't specifically said that he couldn't see the hunt and the park was safe. It wasn't as if he was going through the time portal to see the raptors.

"Okay guys let's go home for my famous homemade pizza!" his dad said as he entered the car. He was sopping wet through as he threw a folder onto the back seat between Heather and Clarence.

When they were asleep after having pizza he would get to witness the greatest hunt in sixty-five million years.

 **Note:**

 **I'm having internet issues at the moment which won't be fixed until the start of next week, (as of writing). That means mission three will be delayed. As a way to apologise I'm going to take requests again. It will be the only request taking mission for the foreseeable future. It's just my way of saying sorry for the delay. That brings me to the second point I wanted to raise. It is primarily aimed at the Guest who suggested Titanis but it can apply to anyone. If I do not pick your request please do not think it is due to you. Even when I was writing Extinction World I took every request seriously and if I don't pick yours it is not a personal thing. The biggest reason why I picked Jack905's was because I felt I could do more with that request than the others. Now my final note. If you do a request please request only one animal. It stems from an incident with Extinction World which I would rather not repeat.**


	6. Mission 3- Terror Bird

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and a palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **This next mission takes them to prehistoric Texas where they aim to rescue a giant killer bird and avoid its major competitor: the sabre toothed cat Smilodon.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 3- Terror Bird**

 **Hiroshi Komon's dream to create a wildlife sanctuary full of extinct animals has become a reality. Prehistoric Park now contains a herd of territorial Stenaulorhynchus and the last American cheetah. However, Amelia Kanda and Phil West feel that a particular group of animals have been neglected by the park.**

Amelia had to admit that being a billionaire owner of a wildlife sanctuary had its perks. His office was at least twice the size of hers as well as having a very nice panoramic view of the canopy of a very lush forest. He had even stated that one day he hoped an animal enclosure would be under his office so he could see extinct animals as he worked. Inside the office itself he had a very large mahogany desk with the skull of a Smilodon sitting pride and place next to an expensive looking computer. In one corner was a tank containing a slithering boa constrictor and, he had a perch for his pet African grey parrot. The only thing that stopped it from flying out from his office was the glass over the office railing; something that could hardly be seen at the present time. Right now the parrot was bobbing happily up and down on Hiroshi's shoulder.

"Currently Prehistoric Park is missing a huge group of animals which we hope to rectify this mission," Amelia explained. "We hope to rescue a bird species."

"Birds?" Hiroshi asked puzzled. "We have our very nice Nyasasaurs. Aren't dinosaurs birds? Or vice versa?"

"Sorry we meant modern day birds," Amelia replied pulling out the file that Phil had prepared. "With the aviary not being ready yet I thought we should go after a flightless bird."

She opened the file revealing various flightless birds throughout history, (or prehistory). Amelia and Phil had spent arduous amounts of time deciding which flightless bird to go for. They had spent days thinking about possible species to rescue, their dietary requirements, if they had any special needs and even if Prehistoric Park could handle that species. What was the point of rescuing an animal if only then for them to find out they did not have the correct capabilities at the moment to look after the animal? She believed though that they had chosen correctly.

"We thought of maybe rescuing the dodo of Mauritius or the giant moas of New Zealand. Although they went extinct only a few hundred years ago and, well…The time portal only goes back twelve thousand years currently so it will be difficult to rescue them from extinction if they aren't going extinct. Not to mention how we could seriously mess up the local ecosystem if we remove them," Amelia explained showing Hiroshi photos of the aforementioned famous birds. He nodded intently.

"Then," Phil interrupted. "We thought to go down a different route and rescue a Mesozoic flightless bird called the Hesperornis. Unfortunately it is a seabird and we currently don't have the capabilities to rescue an animal that spends most of its time in the water."

"It was your guest who gave us the idea for our mission," Amelia smiled handing Hiroshi a reconstruction of their target. It showed a very tall seriema but with a very nasty looking beak. "We're going for a terror bird, specifically Titanis."

 **Terror birds were the dominant predators for millions of years in South America. Their fast speed and staggering height allowed them to rule the roost. That is until North and South America joined together bringing cats and dogs into contact with them.**

"I'll contact Bob to inform him of our plan in detail," Phil said placing a finger to his headset.

 **Bob though is handling a noisier member of the park. Mammoths don't remain quiet for anyone.**

Bob swore loudly as the matriarch, Saqui, charged at the jeep. Waving her powerful trunk and tusks she smashed into the side of the vehicle. With the sounds of scrapping metal and smashing glass the elephant made the jeep roll over onto its side. Another roar escaped from her trunk and she charged. The jeep flipped over again causing another sickening sound of more glass smashing. One of the doors of the jeep fell off and was crushed under Saqui's foot.

"Glad we're not in there!" Bob cried.

He and one of the keepers had left the jeep and were currently looking down into the mammoth's enclosure from a walkway above the immense savannah. They had left the jeep empty in the exhibit after they had realised they had left their things on the walkway. It was a good thing too. Bob did definitely not want the honour of being the first person crushed by a mammoth since the end of the last Ice Age. He gulped as Saqui roared again flipping the jeep back onto its wheels. Well, what was left of the wheels. Two had flown off between flips.

"I've asked Amelia why she does this," Bob sighed. "She only does this to male keepers, not female keepers. Amelia did some research and thinks Saqui acts this way towards males because human men hunted mammoths. Clovis women likely didn't do the hunting. It's understandable though. She's probably had her sisters or mother killed by hunters. They say elephants never forget; it seems mammoths don't either."

Bob jumped as Phil voice came through his headset. Between the roars and the blatant vandalism of a very nice jeep he only heard one of two things that Phil said. He heard one being bird. Birds? He had been distinctly told to prepare for a land animal that lived in Texas quite recently. How could they even prepare for that? Before he could ask Phil to repeat himself the headset clicked off. As usual Saqui decided to stop smashing the jeep just then.

"First territorial rhynchosaurs, then vengeful mammoths and now containing birds. This never ends!"

 **The team are travelling back to Texas during the Pleistocene 1.8 million years ago. Around 12 million years ago the Isthmus of Panama was formed joining North and South America. Terror birds moved north and evolved into Titanis but they came into contact with dogs and cats moving south, including the fearsome sabre toothed cat. Big birds could not compete with slender cats and ferocious dogs.**

Amelia found it unusual. Bob was trying to drape netting over the holding pens. Raring to start their mission they had arrived to see the peculiar site. Had looking after extinct animals already taken such a toll on him that he went insane?

"Bob what the hell are you doing?" she yelled.

"You said birds!" he yelled back wobbling as someone at the other end of the walkway tugged too hard on the net.

"Flightless bird!"

All of the people in the jeep burst out laughing as Bob uttered a crude word in exasperation. Amelia put the jeep into gear and accelerated through the swirling vortex of the time portal. The humid air and tropical forests of the Nga Rara islands vanished in favour of the long grasses of Texas. She swore. The portal had emerged directly in a herd of camels of all things. The camels made a low groan as they ran beside the jeep. Mixed in with the camels were several red and black striped horses who galloped in fright. There was a break in the herd which she took. Dirt flew past the windows as she swerved to avoid hitting either a horse or camel. As they escaped the herd they all sighed in unison.

"Right in the middle of a herd. I could kill Igor!" she cried. Frightened animals can do serious damage to vehicles. She remembered once her jeep had the misfortune of being caught up in the middle of a stampeding zebra herd. Afterwards it looked like it had endured a monster truck rally. If she had been inside at the time she could very well have been paralysed or worse! Camels were not the lightest of animals and she was sure that these American ones were no different.

Phil opened his door and climbed onto the jeep's roof. He had learnt at least that from her! Sitting on the hood of a car or even inside with the door open when looking for animals could be less than fortunate results. On the roof you had more chance of seeing something coming and, there was less chance of something grabbing you. Jean and Mike got out and joined him on the roof. Might as well join them. Nearby she could see that the mixed herd of horses and camels had settled down. Each animal had either returned to their duty as lookout or was now grazing.

"So what are they?" she asked curiously.

"Those camels are Camelops and, judging by the size, date and area those horses will be Hipparion!" Phil said happily. "I can't tell the species unfortunately."

"Phil West unable to tell the species of an extinct animal immediately! I'm shocked!" she joked causing Phil to blush.

She noticed like modern day dromedary camels these Camelops had one hump but they were not nearly the same size as dromedary camel humps. Although Texas was often hot and arid it was not nearly as hot and arid as the Middle East and North Africa. They were massive though! An ordinary camel were just a head taller than an average human, these guys were at least another metre taller than a modern camel.

"Titanis would likely hunt Hipparion. If we wait we might get to find one!" Phil said. Jean nodded and pulled out a metre by metre box from through the sunroof. He pulled a little antenna out from inside the box itself. This was Igor's new invention. They needed some device to allow communication with the park. Originally this was done with a drone but as the drone unfortunately crashed in a 'test flight', (amazing how test flights resembled a drone race between Jean and Graham), so Igor had gone back to the drawing board. Instead a more practical 'backpack' connector was developed and the drone would later be used for aerial reconnaissance. That is if Igor could get it working after being impaled on a tree and then attacked by rhynchosaurs…

 **When you stay near the food source of a hungry giant bird it generally does not take long to attract a few takers.**

Amelia nudged Phil and pointed to a thicket. It took him some time to notice what she was pointing at. A bird stood there, about two and a half metres tall, avidly staring at the mixed herd. It had the largest beak of any bird that she had seen which ended in a sharp hook like other birds of prey. The bird's head was blood red and had a bunch of grey and yellow feathers which stuck up forming something like a mohawk. Most of the body was obscured by the thicket but from what she could see it had a red coloration to match the head with some yellow rings at the base of the neck.

"If I'm not mistaken that's our Titanis," she narrated for the camera on her head.

"I've seen this with many birds of prey," she went on. "Just like secretary birds actually. You can see this one is focusing intently on the herd; birds of prey rely heavily on sight. Mammals rely just as much on smell but not birds. He or she is scoping out the best Hipparion to go after. Just look at the size of that beak! Secretary birds stomp their prey to death and their beaks comprise a smaller amount of their head. With Titanis the beak is just gigantic. This guy uses it to kill."

The Titanis cocked its head to the left and the right staring at the herd. Near the edge of the herd was a Hipparion foal. Predators always targeted the easiest kills.

"There's a foal there," she said pointing to the edge of the herd. "A hunter always goes for the easiest kill which includes comprises the sick, the injured, the young and the old."

"Oh that's a bit cruel," Mike moaned.

The Titanis edged forward. It was about to strike! Just as the bird burst from the thicket something else burst from the long grass. Whining the horses darted away but an elderly one fell underneath its own hooves. It whinnied but the shape was upon it. It was a cat!

"Look at those teeth! It's Smilodon!" she cried in excitement. Another cat and then another joined the first. With their impressive sabres they tore into the throat of the horse. With another feeble whiny it went silent. From the grass the rest of the pride arrived. "In two missions we've had Smilodon ruin the chances of an endangered animal hunting."

"Except this species is different. This is the oldest species, . It's smaller than the others."

There was something curious about the Smilodon which she hadn't noticed last time. The urge to rescue the cheetah had distracted her. All the time in the media Smilodon had two large sabres sticking out from under the top lip. These ones definitely had the sabres, as the unfortunate horse found out, but the upper lips were very different. The upper lip elegantly curved around the tip of the mighty sabre making the Smilodon's mouth look like an inverted V.

"Wow that new theory was right!" Phil said in disbelief. "I'm shocked."

Amelia thought to elaborate for the camera. "This pack may not look like our traditional Smilodon but they are. You'd be surprised how much we rely on saliva to preserve our teeth and how much our lips protect our teeth from detritus. Well Smilodon needs to keep those pearly…erm…sabres well protected if they want to hunt. Animals, like walruses, have dental structures exposed but they are tusks. Tusks are harder and are used for either display, practical reasons or fighting. Like a walrus uses their teeth to carve out holes in ice and to show off. We don't see that with Smilodon so…just look at that!"

The Titanis had been sneaking towards the Smilodon kill with its neck low so it was level with the tops of the grass. A nearby Smilodon had noticed this and showed another reason why it had the longer upper lip. It lifted up the lips revealing the sabres in a terrifying sight. In accompaniment with the growling just one Smilodon was enough to become a ferocious beast. The Titanis cawed and darted off closer to the thicket.

"Her teeth are amazing!" Amelia laughed. "We just need to think of a way to get our terror to the park."

The bird looked forlorn and gave another caw.

 **Meanwhile, Suzanne the park vet is having difficulty with two animals rescued on the last mission.**

The Megalonyx paced back and forth in their exhibit. Thomas, the male, panted and made unnerving grunting noises as he paced around from the opposite side of the dry stone wall. The stone wall was Bob's idea. Particularly in the rural UK dry stone walls were used to fence off different herds of sheep. Not wanting to rely too much on traditional fencing and, as the Megalonyx enclosure was not located in an area with too many natural barriers he had decided to use dry stone walls. At just under two metres tall it covered most of the sloth enclosure.

"What is the matter with you two?" she asked. In the corner of her eye she could see a camera crew. Hiroshi had decided to scrap the head mounted cameras for the park staff as he made his documentary in favour of a crew. The time travellers still had the head cameras though. She much preferred the head cameras. She could forget that she was being recorded with the head cameras. She decided to talk to the crew and explain what was going on.

"I'm worried about our sloths. They haven't stopped pacing since they moved here. We've given them enrichment items but they've ignored them. Then we thought it might have to do with a change of seasons from their time and ours but the mammoths and cheetah are doing fine."

 **The Megalonyx were rescued from the tar pits of La Brea during the last Ice Age around 11,000 years ago alongside the herd of mammoths and the park's cheetah.**

Martha rose onto her hindquarters, (startling several camera crew members), and slammed back down. As she did this she wobbled.

"Security said that they've hardly slept as well…" She pulled out the _Prehistoric Park Animal Guide_. Updated each mission it described each species the park had acquired. Currently only seven animals were listed in the guide. Flicking to the Megalonyx she found part of it that got her attention. It said that Megalonyx slept in burrows!

"That's it! They must build burrows where they know it's safe; possibly somewhere known to be frequented by sloths. They don't recognise Prehistoric Park as being safe so they don't build burrows. They don't build burrows so they don't sleep as much! These guys are tired!"

 **Could insomnia stop sloths from settling in? As Suzanne tries to cure Prehistoric Park's sloth sleepiness the time travellers may have a plan to rescue a hungry Titanis.**

Mike finished tying the rope to the back of the jeep. Close by a huge slab of meat sat gathering flies that now turned parts of the meat into a swarming black mess. A few metres away the Titanis still eyed the Hipparion hungrily as the pride still tore it apart.

"Now to explain our plan for the folks at home!" Phil cried happily. "We always carry meat with us for bait which we're doing. Titanis will go after small animals quite often so it should go after this meat. The meat is tied to a rope and the rope is tied to the jeep. When our birdie spots the meat we'll floor it, the bird will follow and we'll direct it to the portal set up over yonder. We'll open the portal, go through and take our bird with us."

Wearing gloves, (no way would he touch the meat), Mike threw it in the vicinity of the Titanis. The bird cocked its head curiously at the sound and let out a caw of delight as it spotted the meat. Quickly Mike jumped into the back of the jeep allowing Amelia to step on the gas. The rope grew taught and suddenly the meat shot forward following the jeep. The Titanis cawed again and ran after the meat. It was very close to the meat with it coming close to snatching it several times.

"Shit!" Amelia yelled.

A large armadillo like animal had started to amble in front of the jeep. She swerved out of the way but then the portal burst into life before her. In an instant Pleistocene Texas vanished and the modern day holding pens of Prehistoric Park replaced it. Bob was waving from on top of a walkway. Did the Titanis follow them?

"Ah crap," Mike moaned. She parked and looked behind them. A quarter of the rope was no longer there. Behind them the portal vanished. She hit the wheel in frustration. Out of all things an armadillo had stopped them rescuing a terror bird.

Frustrated the time travellers parted ways to think of a plan to rescue a Titanis. That plan could have worked but she did not want a repeat of what just happened. She couldn't even think of how she would capture a modern day equivalent. The closest relatives of terror birds were tiny and the large flightless birds like ostriches were herbivores. Before she realised where she was she had arrived at the food storage facility. Here a collection of meats, fruits, vegetables and all manner of other foods were kept for Prehistoric Park's extinct residents to eat at a later date. Some keepers were wheeling out something like a stand with wheels which had a carcass draped across it. This feeding technique was actually her own idea. To make sure Cheshire the cheetah could hunt like she did in the wild they would put the carcass on this stand, attach it to a jeep and then move it about.

"That's it!"

 **With a new plan in mind Amelia will return to Pleistocene Texas 1.8 million years ago to hopefully rescue a terror bird or two for Prehistoric Park.**

They arrived at the site where they had been earlier. In the distance the Camelops/Hipparion herd had reformed. However, the Smilodon had long gone. Instead a pack of wolves was tearing apart the remains of the Hipparion as a singular giant Megalonyx chewed on some horse flesh obviously stolen from the corpse earlier. She shuddered remembering the grisly detail of the otherwise placid sloth's diet.

"Edwards wolves. They're quite common now so like the Hipparion and Camelops we cannot rescue them without messing up the ecosystem," Phil explained looking eagerly at the wolves ripping into the carcass. "Poor terror birds. Efficient pack hunting mammals steal the kills and efficient pack hunting mammals steal the carcasses."

Jean and Mike started to head towards the thicket as planned but Amelia had other plans. That giant armadillo had made her curious. If it was going extinct maybe Prehistoric Park could have another bizarre member of the xenarthra order? The others quickly understood what she wanted to do and followed. Luckily the armadillos hadn't moved far from earlier. On a closer look they were like an armadillo but simultaneously were something entirely different. Like an armadillo it had a hard topside and a furry underside but other than that they were very different. Unlike the flexible armour of a normal armadillo these ones had a hard tortoise-like shell covered in scales. They were entirely quadrupedal, had a box shaped head and had a fairly long tail covered in bony rings. The five armadillo creatures were walking very slowly in the direction of a nearby stream.

"These amazing animals," Phil whispered. "Are an extinct cousin of the armadillo called glyptodons. These guys, judging by their size, can only be Glyptotherium. Because we're in Texas they have to be …"

"I wonder how they thought of that name," Mike scoffed.

"Indeed," Phil continued not looking impressed. "Glyptotherium was found all the way across the Americas from Venezuela up to the southern USA. Unlike their larger cousins, Glyptodon and Doedicurus, they only managed to exist until 1.5 million years ago. Sometimes being bigger is better…"

"But it allows Glytotherium to come to Prehistoric Park," Amelia said happily. They could easily acquire five of the giant armadillos with little difficulty.

 **Being heavily armoured meant that glyptodons had little to fear from predators which means they could let their eyesight be bad. Which is perfect for a set of time travellers…**

She had to admit that rescuing preoccupied glyptodons was not a difficult task. With their poor eyesight all they had to do was stand a few feet in front of them, plant the portal and just wait. After waiting for a few minutes, (and contacting control), the portal opened. Oblivious to the portal the first glyptodon just ambled through and then the second followed. It was possibly the easiest rescue that they had even done.

"Now time for a Titanis!" Phil said happily rubbing his hands together.

 **Meanwhile, back at Prehistoric Park Suzanne is putting her plan into action to help the sloths finally get some rest.**

She wiped the sweat from her brow. It had been tiring work. After digging for the last few hours they had finally dug what seemed to be two sizeable holes for the sloths to sleep in. Judging by Amelia's report that Thomas had been digging a hole when they rescued him then it would be likely that the sloths would expand these ones. Now they just had the troubling task of making it smell like a sloth.

"We've built the holes which our sloths will hopefully sleep in but then again I use the word 'hopefully'. For us to get the sloths to sleep in these custom holes we need them to basically be able to smell sloths. Which brings me this!"

Two keepers brought spray bottles filled with a yellow liquid. It did not take a genius to work out what was in the bottles.

"When our sloths arrived I collected their urine for testing. It's a good thing that I did as we can now use it to attract them. Just cover your noses; Thomas has a very overpowering musky smell to him."

She almost gagged. Saying that the sloth urine was overpowering was an understatement. Her eyes were practically watering with each spray. After the bottles were half empty she waved for everyone to step back from the makeshift burrows. Almost immediately they had luck. Thomas ambled towards the burrow and sniffed the air. Making a gurgling noise he slid into the burrow and curled up. Within minutes his body was slowly rising up and down accompanied by a steady grunt which appeared to be snores.

"Excellent!" she whispered trying not to wake the sloth. That failed as a high pitched beeping sound resounded around the enclosure causing Thomas to wake up. She could throttle Bob! When the Head Keeper noticed Suzanne he started yelling and waving.

"We've got a few new residents! Dr. Steiner said they lived together!" he yelled.

The back of a transport trailer opened up and a bizarre mix of an armadillo and a tortoise ambled out looking confused. When it saw the lake owned by the Megalonyx it started ambling like a pensioner towards it with a greedy look in its eye.

"Jesse's looked them over! We've got another four coming!" Bob yelled.

"A whole bunch of the weirdest animals ever. This job gets more interesting."

 **As Suzanne has to deal with hungry glyptodons and sleepy sloths the time travellers start to enact their plan to rescue a Titanis.**

It was tiring work. They had been busy making a corridor out of branches taken from the Nga Rara islands. Originally the branches had been intended to make enrichment in exhibits but for now they would form the Titanis trap. Bob only acquiesced to the taking of his branches if he got them back afterwards.

"Okay so we have a plan!" Amelia explained to the camera. Over the last three missions she had found it increasingly easier to talk around the camera. "Terror birds like Titanis liked to hunt large prey like horses other than smaller prey. We'll use this to our advantage."

She gestured towards a carcass attached to a stand on wheels. A thick rope, thicker than before, was attached to the stand's axel which in turn was attached to the back of the jeep.

"This carcass will act as bait. Our Titanis will be attracted by the carcass but if anything else comes like a wolf or Smilodon the…" Mike pressed a button in the jeep and a loud screeching noise echoed around the area. "That horrendous noise will drive them off. When our Titanis finally arrives we'll drive dragging the stand with it. We'll go through our branch corridor. If terror birds are like the large flightless birds that live on open plains like rheas and ostriches then they can zigzag very easily using their back feathers. If that happens it could miss the portal so that's why we have a corridor. The time portal is at the end of the corridor so we can just open it up when the jeep is past and then boom! We have a Titanis."

 **It is a gutsy plan but could it work?**

Mike sat in the jeep. His palms were sweaty. Why was he so sweaty? Well maybe because the emu from hell was going to be chasing him. Nevermind having to look out for sabre toothed tigers, wolves and whatever else. He looked around the plain. He could see nothing. Half of him was pleased about that while the other half wasn't. That Titanis and sabre toothed tiger had come out of nowhere. Even on the last mission that cheetah and sabre toothed tiger had come out of nowhere. His radio crackled.

"Mike look behind you!" Phil said through it.

He managed to look through the back of the jeep. A giant monstrous bird far taller than a human was standing in a thicket. Like the one before it had its neck at an angle ready to strike. However, unlike the last one it was entirely red and lacked the strange head feathers. The others hadn't realised that the radio was still on.

"This must be a female," he heard Amelia said.

He started sweating again. Pull it together Mike. Can't let Amelia down. She'll be watching. Christ the thing looked like a dinosaur instead of a bird. Well, according to Phil they were the same thing. He noticed birdie cock her head then…She burst from the clearing. Instantly he put the car into gear and stepped onto the pedal. It shot forward taking the stand with it. He could hear the frustrated bird caw as she failed to smash her formidable beak onto the hindquarters of the carcass. This was so thrilling! He was racing an actual extinct predator! Outside he could hear caw after caw of the bird. Bring it! Come on, bring it bird! He sharply turned so he was level with the centre of the corridor. Amazingly the bird darted to follow the stand. For such a large animal it was so agile. He never expected that. The sides of the corridor darted past him. Suddenly he saw a light blue colour devour all the light behind him.

"Yes!" Amelia yelled. He had done it! He got out and was hugged by Amelia. Jean slyly smiled as he went bright red. "Let's get this corridor dismantled. Prehistoric Park now has a terror bird!"

 **However, their jubilations maybe short lived. There is someone who they forgot to think about…**

Amelia was relieved when they had the last branches was tied to the roof of the jeep. Soon the jeep had slid through the time portal going from Texas in the year 1.8 million BC to a New Zealand island chain in 2016 AD. As Phil slid through the portal she noticed something on a tree. It was strange. It was a white object. Picking it up it turned out to be some frayed rope with red stains. Seems the male Titanis had enough of the…She saw him. The male had his head by his feet where he was using the claws to scratch his face. One of his wings was flapping about. Unlike many of the older reconstructions he lacked the clawed wing; although that had been disproven years ago.

"Calm Amelia," she whispered.

She carefully started to back away slowly. If she made a sudden movement or loud sound it could disrupt the bird and, she would not like to become acquainted with that beak. Anyway, she didn't have to rush. The time portal could remain open for ten minutes unless manually closed and even then with her this side of the portal the sticks would remain here. They only got teleported to the future when every crew member was in the future. Just one step after another. Don't rush. You've done this a dozen times with lions, hyenas and painted dogs. Just keep calm. That was until there was a very loud crack. Shit! She had stood on a stick. The Titanis looked up, cawed and then started making his way towards her.

"Shit."

 **An ostrich in the open can run 70km/h and it is likely that the Titanis could as well. Amelia has to hope that the thicket obstructs the giant bird.**

She sprinted. Years of being out in the open had given her plenty of exercise and in school she had always done well in races. However, tracking a lion and winning a race on Sports Day was vastly different from escaping a giant killer bird. She could hear the footsteps getting louder. That last caw sounded awfully close. The portal was there. She could almost touch it. Then…Texas vanished and she emerged into the holding pens. She continued running.

"Close the gate!" she yelled.

"What are…quick close the gate!" Bob yelled.

The portal had closed and an angry Titanis stood there. The wooden gates closed behind her. Panting heavily she collapsed on the sandy floor and leant on the gate. A worried Phil and Mike hurried over to her.

"I would not advise racing a terror bird," she laughed.

 **After a brief clash with a two and a half metre tall terror bird Prehistoric Park can finally relax with its new inhabitants…until next time.**

 **Rescued this chapter:**

2 Titanis walleri 1 female, 1 male

5 Glyptotherium texanum 3 female, 2 male

 **Seen but not rescued:**

Camelops (unknown species)

Hipparion (unknown species)

Smilodon gracilis

Megalonyx jeffersonii (already rescued)

Edwards wolf

 **Trivia:**

 **1.** **This mission was a request as a sorry for my internet going down delaying chapters. It was suggested by an anonymous guest hence why they say a guest of Hiroshi suggested it.**

 **2\. Some Hipparion were meant to be rescued but when I planned it the way they were seemed very forced so I thought best scrap it.**

 **3\. The first plan to rescue a Titanis was based on the way the terror bird was rescued in the series but with a twist this time.**

 **I just want to say I am not taking requests for the foreseeable future, as of writing, but as usual please do not feel disheartened if I didn't pick yours.**


	7. One Long Day- Part 3

**One Long Day- Part Three**

 _The Labs_

George Langham paced back and forth next door to the lab entrance. This was taking far too long! He wasn't even allowed inside the main lab area because he didn't have the correct authorisation apparently. That meant he had to impatiently wait outside the labs as the scientists got their act together. Through the sliding doors he could see a glistening white corridor which then led off towards various rooms which he undoubtedly would not have permission to enter even if he managed to get through the doors. Instead he had to wait in a far less impressive room. There were some battered sofas in the waiting room, a solitary water cooler, an old coffee table with equally old magazines on top of it and one very decrepit spider plant. By the entrance to the labs were a soap dispenser and a poster saying _'Even samples can catch diseases. Wash your hands!"_.

He checked his watch again. He had signed the correct papers ten minutes ago so why was it taking them so long? George always imagined scientists and researchers being busy people all the time. It must be true if it was taking them that long to get him his package. Still irritated regardless he continued pacing. It took another four minutes for someone to come with his package. The lab technician wore a stereotypical white lab coat and George could see that he was wearing a battered pair of sneakers. The technician was carrying a large metal box which had several warning labels on the side. With a whoosh the doors slid open and the technician handed him the package. It had some considerable weight to it.

"Sorry for the wait. I had someone check that the container was properly sealed. We know you're in a rush so the last thing you want is having to come back because it's had a leak."

Finally someone with sense. "Thanks mate. Wait what's…" There was one label on it saying _Potential Biohazard_. He didn't want to carry something which could leave him mutated or something along those lines.

"Don't worry. We put that on to make sure that the folks in New Zealand handle it carefully. It's only a biohazard if you do something stupid like swallow it."

"Ah, thanks."

Although he would to have had a longer discussion with the anomaly of someone on the Nga Rara islands having a lick of sense he had to move on. Lugging the container out of the lab waiting room he emerged into the winding streets where visitors would eventually start their holiday at Prehistoric Park. He was thankful that at the back of the jeep was a cagoule which he decided to borrow for the time being. The rain was coming down in heavy torrents and the wind howled angrily. It was like demons and monsters were roaring about him…or even dinosaurs. How would a dinosaur react to these storms? He struggled to make his way through the torrential rain. The jeep was only two metres in front of him but it felt it was on the opposite side of the island. Rain pounded furiously against the roof of the jeep making it sound like a constant barrage of gunfire. With much difficulty he opened the backdoor and put the container inside. With equal difficulty he managed to get into the driver's seat.

"What's the matter with the bloody weather here?" he asked taking off his driving glasses. They had steamed up in hardly any time at all thanks to the humidity and the rain.

Thank fuck he had managed to get the package after so much time! Now all he had to drive back to the docks and he'll be on his way back to the mainland. Suddenly a loud clap of thunder rumbled in the grey sky above. He did not like how heavy the rain was. It was difficult driving here when it had started to rain but now. Now the rain was coming down far more heavily than it had done earlier. A bright flash of lightning lit up the sky and not long after there was a clap of thunder. He had never seen weather like this. Although he lived on South Island the tropical storms were not nearly as violent as this one. Well the Nga Rara islands were closer to say Fiji than New Zealand. He knew nothing about the history of the island chain so he had no clue why New Zealand owned the islands instead of Fiji or the other Pacific island countries.

"Best get going if I want to get home tomorrow," he said to himself.

Wasn't talking to yourself the first sign of madness? He shook his head and put the jeep into gear. This day had practically driven him insane. Shaking his head again he started to drive through the gallons upon gallons of water falling from the sky. Frantically the windshield wipers tried to clear his view but they were fighting a losing battle. The rain was coming down that much that the wipers could hardly keep up with it. The jeep bounded up and down on the streets of the visitor area. He weaved through the streets passing empty cafes, bars and gift shops. It looked like a scene from a horror movie. He could just imagine zombies slinking from the buildings looking for humans to eat. Maybe for the case of Prehistoric Park it would be zombie dinosaurs. The images of a horror movie weren't helped by how quickly the windows of the jeep had steamed up which obscured everything outside the jeep.

"Damn it!" he moaned rubbing the windshield with his sleeve to make it easier to see out of.

He braked suddenly. He had almost crashed into the blasted vehicle gate in the Perimeter Fence. He gave a very loud sigh of relief. The last thing that he needed was crashing his jeep during a storm. Parking the jeep he rooted around on the seat next to him for the book with all the access codes inside. He cursed himself for not remembering the code. It didn't matter now anyway. He had the package now so that's all that mattered. Just a quick drive to the docks and then he could get off the islands for good. That is until he came as a guest…

 _Jesse Washington's House_

Mike sat himself next to his dad's heater warming himself up from being soaked through. He must have only been out in the rain for a max of five minutes but that had been enough to drench him. Having a swim fully clothed would have a similar effect. He rubbed his torso with his hands to try and warm himself further. Simultaneously he gave Heather and Clarence an envious look; as soon as they had got in they had nabbed the hot water bottle. From the kitchen Mike could smell strong, fresh coffee. His dad came in holding three mugs, two of which were chipped, and handed each of them a mug. He quickly ran back into the kitchen and returned with a bag of marshmallows with some whipped cream.

"Okay you guys picked a movie series to binge watch?" he asked them. His dad was a serious movie nerd and had amassed a serious collection over the years.

"We thought maybe the Jurassic Park films because we're at a dinosaur sanctuary," Heather replied. "You know from the first one made in ancient times to that one that came out last year."

"Hey Jurassic Park didn't come out in ancient times. I took a girl on a date to see that film. My first girlfriend actually," his dad said laughing.

"If you were dating then it must have been prehistoric times than ancient ones," Mike joked. Everyone, including his dad, laughed at that. Even Clarence seemed to have found that funny. His dad went back into the kitchen to finish off his 'world famous pizza'. As Heather searched their dad's collection of DVDs Mike looked around the room in preparation for later.

If he was to sneak out to watch a Dakotaraptor hunt then he had to plan in advance. If he didn't plan at this early a stage then his attempt to go raptor watching would fail miserably. From his seat he could see his dad's car keys hanging on the hook on the wall next to all the now drenched coats. If he was quiet he probably could use the car to get to the raptors. He had recently got his license so driving the jeep should not be a challenge. New Zealand and American cars surely shouldn't be too different from one another. With transport sorted that was one less obstacle to think about. The hunt would start at midnight and the enclosure was twenty minutes to half an hour away from where they were now. With the weather the roads were likely to be muddy so would slow his process. Best set off at eleven then. His dad would be asleep then but Heather and Clarence would be a different story. Hopefully they would remain in Heather's room. Whenever Clarence slept over at their mom's they would stay up late listening to music in her room. Did he need anything else? Definitely a coat, (he couldn't count on the weather clearing up by midnight), a torch might be a good idea, he'll take his notepad to take note of any unique details in the raptor's hunting pattern, it might be useful to bring…

"Pizza's ready guys!" Jesse Washington declared balancing two large pizzas, one in each hand. He slapped them down on the coffee table and Heather eagerly jumped up from the sofa, (sending the hot water bottle flying), to grab a slice. Clarence too got up and grabbed a slice for himself.

"Imagine if this slice was a branch Heather. The big long necked dinosaur came like this…" Clarence started explaining.

"I know Clarence. I was there!" Heather laughed with a huge smile on her face. Mike felt sick.

He took a slice and flicked through the book that he had been reading earlier. Eagerly he looked at the page with the Dakotaraptor. They were truly beautiful animals. A head covered in slick black feathers with a speckled crown upon the top of the head, a speckled white underbelly, brown feathers on the arms which ended in clawed fingers and the world famous clawed toe. According to the book the D-raptors could occasionally slash prey with their claws. Considering the book by various eminent palaeontologists including Philip West and Mark Witton it must be reliable information. Maybe they would slash with their claws tonight? They were amazing animals to look at on paper never mind seeing them in real life. His heart beat quickly in anticipation.

"Don't be shy Mike, dig in," his dad said. "Otherwise these two will have eaten it all before you can blink."

"Just use your time portal to get us a few extra slices," Heather joked trying to catch a pepper which had fallen from her slice. Clarence was busy whispering something into her ear which made her giggle.

He reached over for another slice of the pizza. He had to admit that his dad's cooking skills were good. It was the best pizza he had ever had.

 _Control_

"Why the hell are you going out in this weather?" Graham asked spinning in his chair.

"To record the behaviour of the animals," she replied gently tapping him on the head with the Prehistoric Park brochure.

"But you've watched the animals I don't know how many times during storms. What else can you look at other than to reiterate the point that they don't like storms?"

"My field, unlike your field Mr. Lang, is not definite." Amelia explained laughing. "An algorithm will do one thing every time if programmed right but animal behaviour is not so set in stone. If I shout at a dog and the dog barks at me that might not be the dog's actual behaviour. That one dog might bark when shouted out but the rest of the species might not, it might bark one time and not another so you have to do a lot of studying."

"Okay then. Just remember to take a coat." Graham pointed to the skyline which was now being constantly bombarded by heavy raindrops. There was another bright flash.

As she headed to the doors Vincent stood up. She had never properly spoken to the Head of Security and had only really seen him in staff meetings. For that reason she had never realised how tall the man was. He must be almost two metres tall and had shoulders broad enough for someone to sit on. Although she knew not all rugby players were behemoths Vincent did fit the stereotype perfectly. It was quite obvious that he used to be on the New Zealand rugby team.

"Do you mind if I come with?" he asked. "I've never actually been to the park so I thought I might as go with a professional."

"Sure," she said in puzzlement. Vincent was a very taciturn person so he had never let on any wish to visit the prehistoric part of Prehistoric Park.

"Thanks. Sorry for leaving you Graham." Graham equally bemused waved it off. Vincent seemed to be pleased by this and then proceeded to follow Amelia. She felt miniscule compared to him. Amelia wasn't actually short as well so she dreaded to imagine what an actual short person would feel next to him. They both grabbed their coats on the outside of the Control room and put them on before venturing to the door to get outside. As soon as she went through the exit the full force of nature decided to assault her face. It was hard to see through the intense rain. Quickly, and blindly, she ran to her jeep to escape the rain. After fumbling with the keys she managed to get inside, panting heavily all the time as well. Trying to get through the rain was a workout in itself. Vincent appeared to be as equally dishevelled as she was when he got in.

"My god the weather's bad," he complained.

She nodded and turned on the windshield wipers. The rain was that intense that the wipers were practically useless. As soon as they managed to wipe away the rain it came down thicker. At least she could use the fog lights to see better. Without them she doubted that she would have been able to see the path in front of her at all. The only thing that could be heard as well was the rhythmic _thud, thud, thud_ of raindrops of the jeep roof.

"Will any animals be out in this weather?" Vincent asked straining his eyes to look through the endless rain.

"You'd be surprised how many animals remain in the open during storms. Most thought do avoid that though like the plague."

The Perimeter Fence loomed through the darkness in front of them. After quickly typing in the access codes she passed the jeep through the hulking monolith. Outside the fence where the road was less paved the jeep repeatedly bounced up and down causing water to splash the windows when the tyres sped through puddles.

"Didn't you used to work in Africa?" Vincent asked. She had completely that he was there. Keeping her eyes on the road through the downpour had taken up all of her attention.

"Yeah the Masai Mara reserve in Kenya. I worked there for a few years before Shinchoku Co. hired me."

"Miss it much."

"At times yeah. Well, not all of it. It was a nightmare working whenever poachers had been spotted because I would always get an armed guard. Thankfully I was never shot at but I do know people who were. Also outside the reserve the poverty was horrendous. You see it on TV but you never realise how bad it is until you see it in person. Morarji would often take groups of us to build stuff like wells and schools but still…It was so bad there. I miss some things though. I had lots of friends there who I miss. I miss the local villagers. They were truly grateful whenever we managed to help them and it was nice seeing their lives improving whenever we did a project. I miss the animals as well…"

"Really?"

"Yeah. When you're following individual animals you start to develop a bond with them. When they get a mate or a kill you feel ecstatic for them and when they fail to make a kill you just feel awful for them. There was an old lioness called Sasha and when she died I was distraught. We also watched this large spotted hyena called Zsa Zsa who would actually challenge lions for their kills. She would leave her pack and literally take on an entire lion pack and, most of the time she won."

There was a bump in the road which caused the jeep to shake about a bit. After that the conversations stopped for some time. Instead of chatter just the roar of the wind, the creaking of trees and the thuds of the heavy rain could be heard. Every so often the jeep would pass through a muddy puddle sending a large column of water splashing into the air.

"So you rescued all the animals from the past?" Vincent asked suddenly breaking the monotony of the sound of the storm.

"Not all of them. Some have been bred in the park."

"Well they wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. You're the reason they aren't extinct now." She blushed. Her recently ex-boyfriend had never said anything that nice to her in their years of dating. "Did you have any close calls with any of them?"

"Too many to say. On the third mission I was almost caught by a Titanis…"

"A what?"

"Better known as a terror bird. Imagine an ostrich if it had a very nasty looking beak and ate meat. We were just about to return to the park when I saw it in a thicket. I was backing away slowly until I accidentally stood on a twig. He saw me and chased me. If we were in an open plain he would have caught me and we wouldn't be having this conversation. Speaking of Titanis…"

She parked the jeep. They both got out and ran to a sheltered viewing area built onto the side of the exhibit. On the outside it resembled a wooden hut but inside it was a roomy, well-lit area for guests to watch the giant birds. Normally it was well-lit. Currently the lights were out making the viewing area as black as the sky outside. She guessed it had something to do with the storm. Thick raindrops raced one another down the window pane of the viewing area.

"So this Titanic is in here?" Vincent asked.

"Titanis. Yeah this is their enclosure. I've never seen them before in a storm…"

With the horrendous weather it would be unlikely that she would get the opportunity. With a roaring gale, black skies and a downpour even if the Titanis was out it would be hardly possible to see them even if they were out. Vincent looked intently through the window as if his wine thief was hiding in there with the terror birds. His nose was almost pressed against the window.

"There," he suddenly said. He pointed to a small clump of trees in the middle of the enclosure. She could barely make out the shape of the giant bird. Faintly she could make out a mohican on the top of the head. It was the male. He was sitting down with his neck close to the ground.

"How did you manage to spot him?" she asked.

"I like bird watching."

"Oh. Okay then," she didn't expect Vincent to have such a niche hobby. "You see that it has a little mohawk of feathers? Males have that. He's called Sammie. He also happens to be the one who chased me."

"He's a big fellow."

They stood there for a while watching Sammie. So far all she could conclude that Titanis liked to rest during storms. After some time the intensity of the storm had decreased. The flashes of lightning and roar of thunder had started to move further and further away. It seemed to have moved onto one of the other islands in the archipelago. Also the rain had started to lessen becoming only a light patter instead of the furious downpour earlier on.

"Looks like Sammie will not be moving much. Let's go look at someone else," she announced.

As they started to drive off she noticed something in the middle of the road. Her fog lights revealed it to be a tree. God dammit! That bloody storm must have upturned a tree. She parked the jeep and both got out. Splinters littered the road from where the tree had smashed down after being torn apart by the raging storm.

"Hell of a storm!" Vincent commented.

Something didn't seem right. Whenever a storm had knocked over a tree it would knock over the entire tree. As in uprooting the tree. There should be very few splinters and the splinters would come from the branches as they snapped when they landed. Small or thin trees could be snapped in half by this wasn't a small tree; the trunk was just over a metre in diameter. For a tree of this size to be felled during a storm it would have to be uprooted. She managed to spot the remains of the trunk. Splinters surrounded it and it had seemed to have split diagonally. Then she saw it. Runny mud and the downpour had distorted the shape but there was no mistaking what was next to that trunk.

"This wasn't because of the storm," she said. "See that."

Vincent gulped. He knew what it was. A footprint.

"Something's out and that footprint is too distorted for me to tell what it is. Something is loose in Prehistoric Park."

 _Jesse Washington's House_

Around eight the rain had started to dissipate. They had finished the first Jurassic Park film and now were starting the third one. Between the four of them the pizzas had been eaten long ago as well as a one litre bottle of soda. Mike was tense though. He wanted them all to go to bed so he could go to the raptors. He really wished that his dad would just announce that it was time for them to go to bed without exception. His palms were sweaty and his heart was beating that loudly that he could swear that everyone else could hear it.

"You know what I feel tired," he suddenly announced.

"Really buddy. It's only just past half nine?" his dad replied looking at his watch.

"I didn't sleep well last night and with these early mornings its tired me out. I'll get a shower and head off to bed. Well goodnight everyone!"

He quickly got up and headed to the bathroom. He quickly closed the bathroom door stressed to the heavens. What was he thinking? It was a stupid plan that will go wrong. He wasn't some badass extrovert like the others at his high school. He was a quiet, reserved person who was too scared to even watch movies online illegally! He had never even littered! There was a knock at the door. He opened it and his dad stood there.

"You okay buddy? Are you feeling ill?"

"Nah I'm fine," he said a bit too quickly.

"Is something on your mind? You can tell me anything if you want to talk."

"Dad I'm just tired. I just want an early night so I get up early to explore the park without Romeo and Juliet."

His dad smiled softly. "Okay. If you need me just tell me."

Mike nodded and closed the door. He quickly undressed and turned on the shower. Cold water splashed his bare skin keeping him awake. He had to keep his nerves under control or he'll throw out his plan. _Come on, there will be other chances to watch a hunt. You don't have to go tonight._ No! It wasn't just about watching a hunt now. He had to go out of his comfort zone some time in his life. If not he'll just become a social recluse in college. Tonight he would prove to himself that he can do these things.

 _A few hours later_

He had heard the others go to their rooms about forty-five minutes ago. Through his wall he could hear the rhythmic snores of his dad. Heather and Clarence were probably doing whatever they did by now. Looking at the clock he saw that it was almost time to leave. He checked his backpack again: notepad, torch, pencil, some sandwiches, (his dad had made some for him when he had left the shower in case he wanted a midnight snack), bottle of water, some biscuits, a map of the islands and a pair of binoculars. After psyching himself up for the final time he zipped up the backpack and left the room. He crept quietly trying not to alert anyone. From Heather's room he could hear the sounds of what seemed to be Kurt Cobain. Before he knew it he had reached the coat rack. He quietly lifted the car keys off of their hook. Before he knew it again he was at the front door. Luckily everyone at the worker's village trusted each other enough to keep their doors unlocked; he didn't want to waste time fumbling for the keys.

"What are you doing?"

He jumped as if an electric current had shot through him. Heather stood there with her hands on her hips in the exact pose that their mom did. Crap.

"Nothing. What are you doing?"

"Getting a glass of water. Wait…" She was right in front of him in virtually no time at all. "You're sneaking out to watch those raptors."

"No…No I'm…"

"You're a shit liar Mike. I should really wake dad but…I really want to watch the hunt as well. I'm sure you know what I'm getting at."

He sighed. "Fine. Be quick and quiet."

"Clarence is…"

"Fine!"

He opened the door and waited for the two of them. He would rather not play babysitter but seeing a raptor hunt would be worth it.

 _Somewhere in the park_

"Shit!" George cried.

He had no idea where he was in the park. Just as everything seemed to be going right it went right down the tube again. It turned out the Satnav did not tell you the way back from the place that you went to. Damn technology! Now he was lost in the middle of a wildlife sanctuary full of extinct animals and no clue where he was. He would have to get out of the jeep and look for some clue. It was dark, cold and the wind was blowing but at least it was not raining as hard as before. As soon as he stepped out of the jeep his boot sunk half an inch into the thick mud.

"Ah crap. Just what I need!"

The rain softly landed on the top of his head. He looked around for some sign or landmark. Of course there weren't any! He trudged through the mud looking in vain for some sign. A wave of relief washed over him when he saw some form of fencing. That relief quickly dissipated when he realised that there were no signs nearby saying what lived beyond the fencing. Angrily he cursed again. This must be an area not available for viewing for the public or part of one of the tours that he had seen advertised. Wait…He could see something inside. It resembled a cougar. At the back of the jeep there was a guide to Prehistoric Park's animals. He could look in there! He ran, a difficult task thanks to the mud, back to the jeep and almost cried with happiness when he found the book. Now all he had to do was find something which resembled this cougar thing. He surprised himself on how quickly he found the correct page. Ah the American cheetah. Who knew America once had cheetahs? Soon he had it typed into the Satnav.

"Okay George you're doing good. Just need to get this to the right place and then you can go home."

Mud splattered the side of the jeep as he accelerated. He would be at the docks soon. On the way here he had noticed a cooler on the boat. Could it have a few beers in? He hoped it had. After the last few hours he really needed a beer. He looked at the clock on the jeep's dashboard. Jesus. He had driven around lost for two hours! He shook his head. Captain Ahab better still be there! Of course he would be; all that talk of leaving without him was an empty threat. That captain knew that if he set off without him he would be losing a paycheque. Just as he thought the rain was clearing it started to come down as hard as before. Damn temperamental weather. Why couldn't it…

That sound wasn't like thunder. He shook his head. Stop letting your imagination run away with itself. This is Prehistoric Park. The events of Jurassic Park are fictional. There wasn't going to be a breakout. There was that noise again. Did they have a crane or something that they forgot to put away? To say it was supposed to be a safe park that would be a major health and safety disaster. His jeep hit a pothole and his driving glasses fell from his nose before landing on his lap.

"Shit."

Without braking he quickly grabbed his glasses and put them back on. Then he saw it. Something big was in the middle of the road. Something very big.

"Fuck!" he yelled.

He swerved but with resurgent heavy rain he couldn't properly see where he had swerved. Suddenly he felt the jeep go down a small drop. There was some chain link fencing before him. The force his jeep was going at caused the fencing to split open like a hot knife through butter. There was a horrid sound of scrapping metal and most of the window next to him exploded showering him with glass. There was another drop, another sound of wrenching metal and then a crash. His airbag opened before he could smash his face into the steering wheel. The world at that moment then went black.


	8. Mission 4- Scottish Swamps

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and a palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **On their next mission they are going farther back than they've ever been before. They will take two trips to the swamps of prehistoric Scotland for the ultimate bug hunt.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 4- Scottish Swamps**

 **Prehistoric Park's audacious plan to end extinction has so far been an overwhelming success. The park now is home to the early dinosaurs, the Nyasasaurus, a pair of terrifying terror birds and two very large ground sloths. As Phil, Hiroshi and Amelia plan their next rescue mission Prehistoric Park has to help a resident still adjusting to the 21** **st** **century.**

Bob could feel his knees chattering. If it was a cartoon he would be blowing into an oversized paper bag with his teeth clacking together in a comic manner. However, this was not a cartoon. In a cartoon if he got attacked by a mammoth he would just be flattened by a pancake. In real life he would be horrifically crushed under the behemoth's feet. He dreaded to think about that. His day had been going so well. The park's architect and the construction manager had gotten back to him to tell him that the aviary was finally complete and, that a walkway had been completed between the Reptile House and a biodome. Then Suzanne had come up to him to tell him that after a conversation with Amelia she had an idea to help Saqui the mammoth matriarch deal with her distrust of males and that she needed his help. Naturally he had jumped at the chance. He could personally help an endangered animal. Now he hated this plan.

"Is this really necessary Suzanne?" he asked.

"Saqui recognises and trusts me so if you're with me then she won't attack," she replied but the look on her face made Bob question this.

 **Saqui and her mammoth herd were rescued from the tar pits of La Brea. However, Saqui holds an intense animosity to males due to hunting from Ice Age peoples.**

Each step made Bob panic more and more. He had to go slowly so not to startle her. He held his hands in the air to show he wasn't carrying any weapons. He stood so close to Suzanne that he was practically standing on her to show Saqui that he didn't endanger someone she trusted. His heart was beating nonstop. The giant mammoth stood farther up the plain with the rest of the herd. Just one wrong move and she would break off from the herd to attack. The memory of what she did to two jeeps made an awful feeling creep down his spine.

"Bob you're needed at the warehouse portal," Graham said over the headset.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Without hesitation he backed out of the enclosure and got into his personal jeep. Breathing another sigh of relief he drove to the warehouse portal. He didn't care what they were aiming to bring back; he had to be on standby to deal with whatever was brought back which took him away from the mammoths. Quickly he arrived at the warehouse. Extremely large it loomed over the regular portal area and holding pens. For some reason he felt extremely light headed when he entered the warehouse. Had the stress of being near that mammoth gotten to him? Amelia, Phil and Hiroshi were all standing in front of another camera crew for the documentary being made. Hiroshi was enjoying the limelight and was busy talking to the camera.

"We were only going to use this warehouse. Over there we have a portal. The original plan was for animals to come into this warehouse but we decided that it was too dangerous for the animals and us. We built this place but then made our current portal area."

That was a bit of an understatement. The current portal area had the signature holding pens to store the animals as well as barriers around the controls and the portal itself. In contrast, the warehouse just had a simple railing which even he could jump over. Bob reached them and saw that Hiroshi had taken a table from somewhere. On it Bob saw pictures of stone slates with impressions of giant dragonflies on them and other pictures of stones which seemed to have train tracks on it.

"Going bug hunting?" Bob asked.

"Indeed we are," Amelia replied smiling. "Invertebrates are essential to habitats. Dung beetles improve the nutrients of the soil, butterflies and bees pollinate plants and even flies help improve the soil with their maggots breaking down carcasses. At Prehistoric Park we've looked over invertebrates. Prehistory is full of extinct invertebrates and virtually every fossil site has several fossilised creepy crawlies. However, in Scotland during a time called the Carboniferous the atmosphere allowed giant bugs to rule the world."

 **The Carboniferous Earth was a world with carbon levels three times that of the pre-industrial world and 163% more oxygen in the atmosphere. Over 50 million years before the first dinosaurs arrived instead of rolling highlands and glens Scotland was covered in swamps and rainforests.**

"We will make two trips today," Phil explained. "First to the end of the Carboniferous 300 million years ago when desertification destroyed the habitat of many extinct bugs. Then to the mid-Carboniferous around 338 million years ago. Just keep this warehouse airtight though; we can't let too much oxygen to leave."

The time travellers got into their jeep. At the far end of the warehouse a bright blue swirl emerged, spinning in an unearthly fashion. It had become second nature now for Amelia to see that portal. Whereas on their first mission she had found entering the portal an unnerving feeling; like you were walking through a liquid but at the same time there was something resisting you. Although it still felt like that it did not seem as unnerving when it happened. What she still could not get over was emerging into an entirely new world. The dark, dingy warehouse had slipped away to be replaced by a slowly dying forest. They were near the edge of the forest so the desertification at the end of the Carboniferous had taken the biggest toll. Strange looking trees had lost their entire former colour in favour of a sickly brown one. Quite a few had toppled over revealing gangly roots.

"This might be the fate of our modern rainforests," Amelia said half to her mounted camera, half to herself. "Deforestation isn't the only threat. As global temperatures rise it basically starts to dry out the forest."

She was at a loss. While working in Kenya she had no need to track a bug. They were going after the giant myriapod Arthropleura and the griffinfly Meganeura where tracking both would be a challenge. Meganeura could fly for one so it was impossible to track something which flew everywhere whereas Arthropleura only left easily followed tracks when the ground was somewhat moist. Kicking the dirt it was obvious this would be very difficult to do. Let's take one thing at a time. How to find a giant dragonfly? They lived by water so if they found water they could find a Meganeura. She gestured to Mike to drive the jeep after her, Jean and Phil. If it was dry where they were they would have to go further into the forest.

"If Meganeura are anything like their modern day relatives then we need to find water," Amelia explained for the camera as they trudged through the forest with the jeep crashing behind them. Taking to the camera had even become second nature to her now.

"We find water we find our dragonflies then!" Phil cried.

They trudged through the undergrowth. It felt like they had been walking for half an hour and the ground didn't seem to change. Trudging along felt redundant at this point; no matter how much they walked it seemed that they achieved nothing in finding water. Frustrated she rested on a nearby gigantic tree. It felt weird. Previously she had overlooked the trees but now that she looked at them they seemed to be scaled. A scaly tree?

"Lepidodendron. I may not be a palaeobotanist but I am eager to look at these plants," Phil said looking at the tree. He placed one hand on the trunk and looked up at the sprawling branches at the top of the trunk with much awe. "At close to thirty metres high you wouldn't think that they were closely related to club mosses."

"Bullshit!" Mike yelled from the jeep.

"No really. Unfortunately they vanished when the dry Permian came about."

Thirty metres high. That gave Amelia an idea. She ran to the jeep and searched round the boot, or trunk as Phil called it, for the generic equipment Prehistoric Park had supplied for them. As Hiroshi wanted them to be successful with their missions he had bought a lot of the best equipment. There were some gas masks, a tranquiliser rifle, a machete to cut thick undergrowth and climbing equipment. A few years back she had visited a friend who lived near the redwoods in California and had gone climbing. Hopefully she could still remember how to do it…

"I'll climb to the top of that Lep…Lepi…to the top of that tree and look for water," she explained brandishing the equipment.

Before anyone could protest she had harnessed herself and was climbing up the tree. She knew she hadn't forgotten how to do it. Below she could hear Phil shout in admiration that she was a woman of many talents. It turned out climbing the tree was easier than modern trees as the scales offered good points to put the studs on her boots. Soon she had reached the thick leaves of the canopy. Refreshing wind rushed over her face. Her hair fluttered around her face elegantly. To the northwest the canopy became thicker and greener until it gave way to rising mist; the mists surely must have come from a water source. Just then she almost fell off of the branch she was sitting on. The largest dragonfly that she had ever seen flew over the head. It must have been the same size as a gull. It flew towards the mist.

"Aah!" someone below her yelled.

 **Back in the park Suzanne has roped in another person for her plan to help with Saqui the mammoth.**

Jesse was visibly shaking. He could not believe that he had allowed Suzanne to use him for her plan! What would his kids say when they found out their dad had been crushed by a mammoth? He could not get that thought out of his mind. He had seen what Saqui had done to those jeeps and how furiously she had rattled the holding pen walls when he had tried to give her a check-up. Those long, curving tusks alone could easily skewer somebody on never mind the trunk and, her body mass itself. The matriarch looked evilly at them snorting in distaste. Jesse gulped.

"Don't be worried Jesse if she sees you with me that might show her that you're not a threat," Suzanne said putting a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "Hopefully."

The mammoth started walking towards them. She flapped her ears to make her head look even bigger all the while roaring with her trunk. It was a small comfort that she was walking; otherwise she would be running and they would have no way to defend themselves against a charging mammoth. He could hear every heavy footstep of the colossus mammoth which made his heart beat with fear. Just a few metres before them she stopped and roared shaking her head to make her look even more threatening. It was working.

"Look Saqui we're friends!" Suzanne cried over the mammoth's roar.

The mammoth shouted, bawled and rumbled which made Jesse's knees almost buckle. Her ivory tusks glinted in the sunlight. Seeing that he would not be perturbed the mammoth gave one last rumble before re-joining her herd. Both of them gave a sigh of relief.

"We just need to do that a few more times…" Suzanne began.

"Count me out."

 **Meanwhile, back in Carboniferous Scotland something big is attacking the time travellers and it is nothing like what they've ever seen before…**

It did not take her long to reach the bottom of the tree. Something had come behind Jean and was now rearing up to be eyelevel with him. Dozens upon dozens of stubby legs brushed one another making a continuous clacking noise to match the mandibles. It was the largest myriapod she had ever seen and in Kenya they could grow huge. This one was as long as Phil was tall! Quickly she pulled Phil and Jean behind her, (Phil had been fending it off with a fallen branch), and told them to put portal sticks directly behind her.

"You are a big one aren't you!" she said calmly. "I'm assuming this guy is Arthropleura?"

"Indeed it is. Possibly the largest terrestrial arthropod to ever live."

"Woah," she cried as the reared up half of the arthropod made a faint lunge. She started laughing a bit. "You're feisty aren't you? I more cautious about this guy firing noxious liquid in my eyes; modern day centipedes and millipedes can do that. Hey there."

The myriapod made another lunge. She had noticed that it had been edging forward repeatedly. Quickly she jumped back behind the portal sticks. Caught off guard the Arthropleura followed but before it could catch up with her a blue light engulfed it. Phil leant down and turned off the portal causing the light to fade.

"Shame we couldn't solve the mystery of what it ate," Phil said to himself. Jean did not look happy about this; he must have assumed it was a giant millipede and not a gigantic, carnivorous centipede.

 **With a giant Arthropleura now safely back a Prehistoric Park the team now has to find the giant dragonfly Meganeura to rescue that from extinction.**

The rest of the venture through the Carboniferous forest was uneventful. All that they encountered was a half a metre long millipede crawling about on a log. Not knowing whether it was a young Arthropleura or not they decided to place it in a pet carrier for Dr. Steiner to identify it back at the park. Even if it wasn't a young Arthropleura it would be a bonus. Soon after they had found the millipede the ground started to change. Instead of dry dirt the ground started to go moist. Amelia heard actual squelching under the boot. They must be getting close to the water source. All around them they could hear a buzzing noise. Then a scuttling…

She saw it going through the underbrush. With the other one she had only seen it from the front but now she had a better view. It had a thick, black carapace made of hard chitin as well as two antennae sticking out of the head. Curiously parts of the carapace were covered in brown clumps and yellow powder. It was amazing. The Arthropleura was carrying plant spores and pollen. It helped the forest to…

"Phil! What are you doing?" she yelled.

Phil had jumped on top of the giant myriapod and had started to wrestle with it while shouting about the time portal. The Arthropleura'a mandibles chattered and clacked angrily as it tried to escape from the daredevil palaeontologist. Amelia jumped directly in front of them and planted the portal into the ground; a task made easier than earlier thanks to the moist soil. A swirling light then burst from the sticks which caused Phil to let go of the myriapod. As soon as the arthropod swept through the portal and into the future she closed it.

"Don't do that! We know virtually nothing about these animals and jumping on them won't help!" she chastised.

Despite the verbal thrashing Phil seemed unperturbed. Soon afterwards they arrived at the water source which transpired out to be a lake. Around the edges of the murky water she could see several Arthropleura scuttling around as giant dragonflies darted above. Some were a dark emerald colour with ruby spots while others were a bright green colour with equally bright red spots. The dragonflies often darted across the surface of the water sending it spraying upwards.

"With desertification water is getting rarer," Amelia explained for the camera. "That's why we see so many Meganeura here. Dragonflies need the water to reproduce and hunt. We can't catch them in the air but we can if they rest. If they get their wings wet a dragonfly cannot fly so I've asked Bob to get us some water guns to…"

Her hopes fell. "It seems there was a communication error between myself and Bob." Instead of the specialised water guns that she had hoped for Mike had pulled out several toy water guns with _Super Soaker 5000_ on the side in big letters. "Let's hope the super is accurate."

After changing into wading gear she waded into the lake. Despite her insulated gear the water was freezing. As she filled her toy gun with water she saw Phil set up the portal, (trying to avoid scurrying Arthropleura all the time). She would shoot and grab a dragonfly before handing it to one of the others who would go through the portal where someone on the other side could take it. Amelia took aim at a dark green dragonfly. Damn. She narrowly missed. She took aim at another one with lighter colouration. Yes! The dragonfly fell out of the air and with a plop landed on top of the lake. Quickly she grabbed it and handed it to Mike. As Mike went through the portal he almost tripped over an Arthropleura which scurried through the portal accidentally. Immediately she refilled and fired at a darker coloured one. It fell out of the air like the first. Mike had come back through the portal but this time Phil grabbed the dragonfly.

They had made a dragonfly equivalent of a production line. She would fire, (occasionally miss), grab the downed dragonfly, handed it to someone, refill and repeat. The only break happened when another Arthropleura accidentally went through the portal while hunting for food. They had managed to get dragonfly after dragonfly but it seemed that they had hardly dinted their population. For every one sent through the portal there seemed to be another four. Desperation had brought all the Meganeura into one area. Just as she caught a lighter coloured dragonfly Phil came back through the portal shouting, (after tripping over another hungry Arthropleura going through the portal).

"Just one more! We only have room to carry one more!" he yelled.

Amelia nodded and waded out of the lake with the dragonfly still clasped firmly in her hands. This one's wings seemed to dry early as it furiously started flapping its iridescent wings. Her hair started to flap around her head thanks to the dragonfly.

"Like a massive fan. Look at the side of this guy and we can see why we need to have them in a biodome. These holes on the side are called spiracles. Invertebrates take in oxygen and water through a process called diffusion; fluids move from an area of high concentration, (outside the body), to low concentration, (in the body). In the humid, oxygen rich forests of the Carboniferous this lets them get big but in the present they'll either suffocate or dehydrate. Vertebrates, like mammals, can force oxygen in so we can have outdoor generators but these guys can't."

She passed through the portal emerging into the oxygen rich warehouse. Keepers were wrestling with an Arthropleura to put it into an airtight crate as others were carrying glass tanks with Meganeura in. Phil had placed the smaller millipede in another tank as she was given a tank to put hers in. It was a struggle with the dragonfly furiously fluttering sixty centimetre wingspan.

"Bugs everywhere!" Bob said panting after closing the lid on the final Arthropleura crate. "Why do I feel you're not finished."

"Indeed we have not yet," Phil said watching a Meganeura flutter its wings in the tank. "We shall now go back to the Carboniferous 338 million years ago for a giant scorpion."

 **338 million years ago Carboniferous Scotland was not suffering through desertification. Swamps, mires and rainforests covered the world and, the giant scorpion Pulmonscorpius scuttled around.**

"Shit!" Amelia yelled. The jeep bounded out of the portal and splashed into the front of a lake. She revved the engine and all it achieved was causing the jeep to sink further into thick mud. The buzz of Meganeura could not be heard, (it would not evolve for several million years), but instead the drops of rain on foliage could be heard. With great difficulty they managed to exit the jeep causing some strange looking tadpole monster to snap its jaws and swim out further into the lake which was rippling thanks to the rain.

"So Nessie is real," Mike joked.

"At a glance I would say that was a Crassigyrinus," Phil said rolling up his sleeves. "I'll have to…"

"No! We can survive not knowing exactly what it is. You're not going diving again!" Amelia warned laughing.

Meanwhile several people had followed them through the portal. Judging by their faces this was their first time through the time portal. Several shuddered as they stepped through the ethereal light of the portal. All had climbing gear on them. As the regular time travellers hunted for giant scorpions the novices would climb up the scaly Lepidodendron to harvest the cones which would eventually produce spores. Why not extend Prehistoric Park membership to plants as well?

"Scorpions very rarely live by the water so let's go inland. Also Mike mosquitoes haven't evolved yet." Mike had been spraying a very noxious cloud of mosquito repellent which she was sure could put a hole in the ozone by itself.

As the gardeners started to climb the moss trees they trudged through the swamp. They had to be careful watching where they placed their feet. Occasionally there were small puddles of water or thicker patches of mud hidden by rotting logs or clumps of plants. Jean almost when tumbling into a particularly large puddle unseen by them when he tripped over a log. If it wasn't for Phil's quick reflexes he would have been submerged in the water. She had no idea how the communicator on his back reacted to water but she was sure it would not do it any good.

"Scorpions love the dark and damp. We might see one out today because of the rain but, for the best results we might have to look under logs and rocks," Amelia explained to both her team and the camera.

"Right on boss," Phil cheerfully said picking up a nearby log. His hand flashed and he held it up laughing. A small green lizard with a ruby coloured head was writhing in his hand. "Like at this beauty! A Westlothiana!"

"I'm assuming there's something very special about Westlothiana," Amelia replied.

"You'll be right. Westlothiana is often regarded as the first reptile. Even if this is incorrect this little one is definitely one of the oldest. We're lucky; these guys are very rare…"

"So perfect for Prehistoric Park!" Amelia declared.

She ventured back to the jeep taking the Westlothiana with her. It was too perfect an opportunity to miss. Amelia retraced the path that they had taken to avoid unseen hazards. The petrified early reptile had stopped wriggling, something she attributed to the unfamiliar presence of a mammal. Finally reaching the jeep where she placed the Westlothiana in a white bucket before pulling out a few more. Behind her the gardeners had almost finished collecting their quota so had started to prepare to return to Prehistoric Park. Kindly she requested one if they could take the Westlothiana with them which they accepted. Before they could return to Prehistoric Park she had darted off with her buckets. After an uneventful trip she handed the rest of the team the buckets.

"We might get lucky and find some more Westlothiana so let's bury these buckets in the ground by the logs and set up camp," Amelia said digging some earth up.

"Set up camp?" Mike asked.

"If Pulmonoscorpius is anything like modern day scorpions they'll be nocturnal. It'll be easier to hunt at night."

Although it was pouring it down with rain it was apparent that night was fast approaching. After setting their Westlothiana traps they began stringing up hammocks between the trunks of trees which offered more protection from the rain. Amelia threw a mosquito net across one end of her hammock.

"Mosquitoes haven't evolved yet," Mike said sarcastically.

"Who says it's for mosquitoes?"

Mike said something to himself that she couldn't make out. Phil and Jean though had decided to copy her and put up their own nets across their hammocks. She lay back in the hammock looking at the canopy of the Carboniferous forest. It was her first time camping in prehistory. All around she could hear the chatter and buzzes of ancient insects, the patter of rain as it hit the branches and the rhythmic creaking of the other hammocks as they swayed in the wind. Gently she closed her eyes ready for when night truly engulfed the forest.

 **As the time travellers wait to hunt scorpions at night park vets Suzanne and Jesse are seeing to the new multi-legged inhabitants of Prehistoric Park.**

"That one's okay," Jesse said looking at the tablet in his hands. In reply Suzanne opened the lid and a giant dragonfly flew out with a very loud buzz. It had been nonstop since the first half of the recent rescue mission. He could see the camera crew looking intently at what he was doing.

"We've been checking over all the invertebrates they brought back. We still have another ten dragonflies to check over; four of them we can't release because we've found signs of illness so they're under quarantine. I think when breeding time comes we'll move some to the aviary we have so many. We have to check over two Arthropleura for illness and our small myriapod turned out not to be a young Arthropleura but something else called Euphoberia ferox…"

Dr. Steiner seemed to relish the fact that Phil had misidentified the myriapod. There was a friendly rivalry between the two so were always competing with one another. Steiner was possibly even happier to announce that Euphoberia was neither a centipede nor a millipede, it was something new, (or old), due to the spines on the carapace and, the unique mandibles. They also had the issue of spores found on the Arthropleura which had yet to be identified…

"At least we found out that Arthropleura was herbivorous and ate detritus!" Bob yelled happily off camera. The camera crew focused on Bob who was happily tugging on a fern with one of the giant myriapods. "These are proper animals not those squirmy little things you find under rocks."

Jesse then noticed something. One of the producers had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and was trying to flick the ignition of a lighter. Before he could say anything there was a spark and a large fireball. All nearby Meganeura suddenly darted away with loud buzzes as the producer dropped the lighter. A small fire started causing Suzanne, Jesse and Bob to stamp out the flames before they could spread. The producer himself looked very perturbed despite his signed eyebrows.

"It's never done that before," he moaned in a state of shock.

"That's because you've never lit up in an atmosphere with over thirty percent oxygen!" Bob yelled angrily. "Fire needs oxygen to burn! If you're in an area with more oxygen it's going to burn more…"

 **Meanwhile, night has descended on the Carboniferous forest and the camp has an uninvited guest.**

Amelia turned on the camera and angled it towards her face.

"It's about midnight and I've just been woken by the thunder…" There was a loud clap to confirm this. "I've looked over to Mike and you can see the camp has a guest."

Mike would regret not having a mosquito net. The largest scorpion she had ever seen was currently resting on his leg. She couldn't tell how long it was but at a guess it would be at three quarters of a metre long from the head to the tip of the stinger. In the darkness she couldn't tell what colour it was. She gave a sigh of relief when, despite the pitch blackness, she noticed that the scorpion had large claws with a small stinger.

"Big claws, small stinger. It crushes its prey. If it was the other way around it would be highly venomous."

She crept out of the hammock and went over to Mike's. The scorpion arched its back every time Mike breathed heavily. Nimbly she grasped the scorpion just below the stinger. It angrily waved its claws about as she lifted it into the air. Thanks to the noise the others woke up. Mike screamed shrilly when he noticed what had been crawling on him.

"Great catch Amelia, our first Pulmonoscorpius. Quick put it in here," Phil said opening the pet carrier that he had with him. She dropped the scorpion inside, only narrowly missing the stinger. Above the storm raged and she saw a flash of lightning.

"Jean can you find some scorpions with me? You guys could you check our traps?" Amelia requested.

The others acquiesced, Mike quite eagerly not wanting to be near another scorpion, as she pulled out her secret weapon.

"Jean, and you guys at home, this is emits UV light. Scorpions turn white when shined with this. Back in Kenya we used to shine this when getting into our sleeping bags and tents to see if we had any stowaways."

She shined her light forward casting blue light across the forest. Various peculiar looking plants were bathed in the extra-terrestrial looking blue glow of the light. Behind them there was a scream only to be followed by Phil shouting that their traps had caught another scorpion. Suppressing a laugh the two of them ventured further through the forest. Jean tapped her on the shoulder.

"Look on that tree."

A ghostly white scorpion was clinging onto the tree trunk. Its long tail was curled up so the stinger was resting on the scorpion's back. Grabbing this one would be more difficult. Quietly she crept up to the arachnid. It moved one hundred and eighty degrees so it was no facing the earth which caused her to pause. Slowly she reached for the tail. When she was about an inch from the tail she quickly made a grab for it. Unlike last time she could not get it below the stinger which allowed this one to wave the stinger back and forth in irritation as Jean fumbled with the pet carrier. When it was open Amelia dropped the scorpion inside and Jean quickly closed the front. Above there was a flash of lightning.

"So we've got three now," Jean said looking intently at the scorpion through the holes in the carrier. "Do you…"

They both could smell smoke. A noxious cloud was slinking its way between the giant scaly trees like some sort of deadly, grey snake. Both of them started coughing. It was getting closer.

"Shit a forest fire. We need to get back to the others."

 **Forest fires can spread quickly in modern day forests having the ability to decimate entire hectares. In the oxygen rich atmosphere of the mid-Carboniferous a fire could spread even more rapidly.**

"We've had great success!" Phil cried when he saw them. "We've caught a scorpion and three Westlothiana. Wait…what's that?"

"Fire! Grab the buckets and run to the jeep!"

Desperately they ran through the swamp. It was far harder than last time. Not looking where they were putting their feet they often tripped which was made far worse carrying several animal filled buckets and containers. The fire had grown rapidly sending noxious fumes drifting through the trees which stung their eyes and choked their lungs. At times Amelia could see amber flames greedily consuming nearby trees. By the time they had reached the jeep flames had engulfed several trees not too far away. Amelia dropped the pet carriers that she was holding in order to jam the portal sticks into the earth. The portal swirled open allowing some of the smoke to filter through.

"Take the containers through, I'll start the jeep!" she ordered. Mike and Jean did as she asked disappearing with the bags, pet carriers and buckets but Phil stayed behind. He jumped into the lake and got to the front of the jeep.

"I'll push you reverse!" he yelled.

It was hopeless. Phil may have been physically fit but he was no match for the quagmire that the jeep had gotten itself into. Mud just spurted up painting the jeep side brown with every attempt to reverse. Smoke burned her eyes causing them to weep fiery tears. Then she saw the lake bubbling. Phil tripped and red rose to the water's surface. She screamed as Phil went under. Just then he broke the surface furiously wrestling a Crassigyrinus. It angrily snapped its jaws open and shut. The portal then opened behind the jeep and Mike burst through with some rope. He wrapped it around the back of the jeep while shouting to reverse again. As she did so she felt something tug the back of the jeep. Mud spurted around and before she knew what was happening the raging fires of the Carboniferous had vanished in favour of the warehouse. Looking in the mirror she saw that the jeep had been tied to the transport truck. Where was Phil though?

"Water! Water!" he yelled as he burst through the water. He jaw dropped. That thing's aquatic why did he bring it back?

He ambled towards a crate used earlier to transport the Arthropluera, leading a red trail from his left ankle behind him, and exhausted dropped it into the crate. Somebody came with a hosepipe attached to the wall and fired it into the crate. The grunts and snaps of the Crassigyrinus was silenced by splashing. Amelia ran up to Phil and hugged him.

"You utter fool!"

"They disappeared from the fossil record around this time. I had to."

"You utter fool. A very heroic fool. Let's get your ankle seen to, you'll get a scar but that's a badge of honour for people like us."

 **After the hubbub of escaping a particularly violent forest fire Prehistoric Park has time to get well acquainted with the new residents.**

They stood on a bridge looking down at the giant myriapods scuttling through the undergrowth of their new home. You could easily be excused for believing it was the Carboniferous rather than the present day. Above their heads giant dragonflies buzzed up and down around a waterfall just next to the bridge. Part of the lake which came from the waterfall was cornered off with some netting running over the top where the Crassigyrinus now swam. On the bridge itself built into a wall was a tank where the Westlothiana scurried about alongside another tank for the Euphoberia.

"They've really excelled themselves this time," Amelia commented in awe as a Meganeura rested on the railing next to her. "Exactly like the actual Carboniferous. Just imagine what it'll be like when the Lepidodendron and those spores germinate."

"We've recreated an actual prehistoric world," Phil laughed with his ankle bandaged.

 **With the Carboniferous Dome full of prehistoric life Prehistoric Park has to prepare for the next mission.**

 **Rescued this chapter:**

5 Arthropleura armata 3 female, 2 male

26 Meganeura brongniarti 13 female, 13 male

3 Pulmonoscorpius kirktonensis 2 female, 1 male

4 Weslothiana lizziae 2 female, 2 male

1 Crassigyrinus scoticus 1 male

1 Euphoberia ferox 1 male

22 Lepidodendron barnsleyense

Several indeterminate spores

 **Trivia:**

 **1\. The Crassigyrinus was not meant to be rescued but I thought it would be a nice ending to have it rescued.**

 **2\. I'm going for a more realistic story, (as realistic as a wildlife sanctuary full of extinct animals brought via a time portal), so when researching this chapter I find out the giant scorpions didn't live alongside Meganeura and Arthropleura so that's why there's two trips.**

 **3\. Continuing from point two the Pulmonoscorpius was not meant the be rescued. Originally it was just going to be the Arthropleura and Meganeura with a forest fire breaking out during that mission. However, I found out Westlothiana lived alongside the scorpions. I have a soft spot for Westlothiana as the first discovered one, called Lizzie the Lizard, is displayed at the National Museum of Scotland. I attend the University of Edinburgh which is next door to the museum so whenever I go to the museum, (its free to enter), for my degree, (history), I always see Lizzie. That's why I wanted Prehistoric Park to have a Westlothiana as soon as possible.**


	9. One Long Day- Part 4

**One Long Day- Part Four**

 _Near the Perimeter Fence_

The window wipers scraped across the windscreen making an irritating noise. As soon as the wipers ran across the screen rain dropped back onto it obscuring the view. Inside the car itself their breath had caused the windows to fog over. In order to properly see the mirrors Mike had to wipe the windows with his sleeve. Unfortunately Heather was not as efficient with wiping the back window which caused him to snap at her to wipe it clear. If this was going to go down without a hitch everyone had to pull their weight. Including Romeo and Juliet. Looking in the mirror he could see them whispering in the back. He could have kicked himself. He had almost gotten out of the door without any hitches but if he had left five minutes earlier, or later, he wouldn't have to play chauffeur for the two love-struck teenagers. Blackmailed by his own sister; he couldn't believe it. Several buildings flashed beside them but thanks to the darkness of the night he could not make out what each building was. The navigation system on the car's dashboard did not show specific buildings this side of the Perimeter Fence.

He then saw it, (after wiping away the condensation that had built up). It was like some long lost ruin, something made more realistic with the thick forest behind it. For some reason the lights at the top of the Perimeter Fence were not flashing tonight. Strange, they had flashed every time he had he had seen them before. Shrugging it off he drove towards the gate built into the bottom of the fence. He broke realising he had no idea how open the gate and drive through. Damn! How had he overlooked that detail? It was so simple…Wait that hologram said access codes. That's right; his dad always would type something into that hologram. With how many codes there were for Prehistoric Park there must be something that had them all written down.

"You guys look in the back for a manual or something along those lines."

As the two of them searched the back he searched the front. There was nothing on the seat next to him so he opened the glove compartment.

"Hey Mike there's a book in here like yours about Prehistoric Park's animals but it's a bit different," Clarence said in a puzzled voice.

"That's because it's for staff usage. Guests don't need to know how much to feed a dinosaur."

In the glovebox there were some latex gloves, a torch, somethings which seemed to be dog treats and finally a book. The only thing written on it was the words _Prehistoric Park Worker's Manual_. There should be access codes in here. Literally at the start of the book there was a list of the access codes. Okay he was at Gate B so…the code was 4531. He typed the code into hologram screen but it flashed red. _Remote Code Input Failed. Please manually input code._ Must be due to the storm.

"You guys wait here. I need to manually put in the access codes."

"It's a good thing you said that or otherwise I would have gone for a walk," Clarence replied in a poor attempt at sarcasm which caused Heather to laugh regardless of it being terrible.

Biting his lip to avoid retorting Mike got out of the jeep. The rain was lighter than before but it wasn't light enough to justify having his hood down. The wind howled through the gaps in the fence as he went to put in the access code. It was roaring so ferociously that he had no choice but to keep hold of the side of his hood to stop it from being blown off of his head. When he had set off the wind did not seem this intense. He reached the panel at the side of the gate and typed in 4531. There was a click and with a screech the door of the gate swung open. Quickly he ran back to the car so not to have any larger droplets of rain fall on his head. As soon as he drove through gate it shut behind him.

"Spooky," Clarence piped up from the back of the car.

He had to admit it was creepy beyond the Perimeter Fence tonight. With the ferocious black clouds, swaying branches in the howling wind and long shadows cast by what little amounts of the moon that could be seen it was unnerving to be outside. Part of him doubted that the public would dare to venture out into the park at night with sights like this. Every bird flying from the trees became demons from Hell and every creak of a tree branch became a ghost wanting to do you harm. With the addition of the fact that Prehistoric Park had animals that had become iconic movie monsters beyond the fence was sure to be nightmare inducing.

"Don't worry Clarence. I'm here," he could hear Heather whisper. A smug grin crept on his face. _Not so brave now!_

The headlights casting their amber glow on the dirt road suddenly focused on something. It was in the middle of the road and was massive. A lump grew in Mike's throat. Was something out of their enclosure? Was it dangerous? As the jeep trundled forward he gave an audible sigh of relief. It wasn't some prehistoric monster in the centre of the road but rather a fallen tree. Most likely it had been blown over by the raging winds. He felt a fool. He parked the car and got out to look at the fallen tree. Larger splinters cracked under his feet as he inspected the tree. The trunk itself had a diameter that huge that if it was standing he doubted he could have put his arms around it. There was no way he could move this tree.

"Do you want me to move it?" Clarence yelled from the jeep.

"Go on then! Try and move the damn thing!"

Maybe that would silence the twat. Eager to impress his girlfriend Clarence jumped from the backseat and immediately started trying to push the end of the tree. It was a fool's errand. Anyone with half a brain cell could tell that it was too big to be moved without the aid of a vehicle. _Try telling that to a love-struck egoist!_ As Clarence panted and puffed trying to move a tree which could not be moved he looked around. He hadn't realised the storm was that powerful; it had managed to snap a tree of his size from close to the base. He managed to have a look at the other side of the fallen tree. Thanks to the lack of light that proved to be a pointless endeavour.

"Okay macho man let's get back into the car."

As they both got back in he started to tap the hologram for the map of the Nga Rara islands. There must be alternate routes to the Dakotaraptor pen.

"What are you doing Mike? Aren't we supposed to be going to see raptors?" Heather asked.

"Well sweet sister. We were going to do that but that big ass tree has blocked our path. Now if you want to see them give me five minutes to find a different route."

It proved quite easy to do so. With just a few taps of the hologram the words _Recalculating route_ popped up to be quickly followed by his new route. According to his dad the routes automatically made by the navigation systems were the routes the bus tours, (and walking guests), would take. For convenience staff would take this route as well. However, there were several back roads that the vets would take as well as the maintenance staff when things had to be repaired, (or if very big fallen trees blocked the road). He could see that the new route took them over the back roads. It even passed by many animal enclosures. Might be a good time to see some of them. Not wanting to waste any more time he put the car into reverse and set off.

 _By the fallen log_

"Could a me…a meat eater have done this?" Vincent asked with obvious fear in his voice.

"I'm not going to lie but there is a possibility. Of course an animal like a sauropod or a mammoth could have done this. I'd better get in contact with Control."

She put a hand to her headset but all that she got was static. Dammit, she had forgotten that the Prehistoric Park servers would often short out during storms. It was one of the many issues that Graham and Bogdan had to contend with. As she went to pull out her phone she realised that she had made a big mistake; she had left it on charge at Control.

"Vincent do you have a mobile on you?"

As he pulled his phone out a tree above creaked making the giant of a man jump with fear. Apparently even the largest of former rugby players feared nature's fiercest creatures, with good reason as well, even if they weren't there. Before he knew what had happened his phone had slipped from his hand and with a plop had landed in the mud. Luckily all phones since 2018 had become as resistant to the elements as their ancestors; unluckily Vincent had had that phone since mid-2017. She didn't need to know anything about electronics to know that Vincent's mobile was done for. Amelia heard him mumbling about how his husband would kill him. With the servers under repair, one phone back at Control and one rendered useless this meant they had no way to alert anyone that something was out.

"While we're here we might as well figure out what toppled this log." She went back to the jeep to grab her torch. She shined around the remains of the tree stump.

"Is there anything that I can do?"

"Yeah. Hold the torch. I can use both hands to search the undergrowth that way."

Vincent shone the golden light around stump allowing her to see clearly. Judging by the cracks on the trunk, (and the size of the trunk itself), whatever had snapped the tree had done it on purpose. Some of the central rings had deep holes dug into them all across it. A few years back some wood had been imported onto the islands for animal enrichment but inspections had been sloppy as it transpired that the wood had Asian long-horned beetle larvae inside. Bob had successfully eliminated the beetles except for a few which spread to some trees. He would later get them and most of the infected trees had to be cut down. This tree had apparently been infected but successfully removed of beetles. Apparent years of attack from insects native to the Nga Rara islands had not benefited the tree. If not for that it would be likely that the tree would have been uprooted instead of snapped.

"This tree has been purposefully toppled. If it hadn't had burrowing insects doing so much damage over the years quite likely it would have been uprooted. Only animals like elephants and sauropods will knock over trees."

"So no carnivores?" Vincent asked still worried.

"No, a carnivore would not do that."

Quite a lot of the foliage beyond the collapsed tree had been parted as if by a large force. Thanks to the parted foliage she managed to see that there was an open plain. Amelia concluded that a sauropod would have done this. With the electrical wiring down nothing would prevent them from rubbing against the fences which would easily collapse under their weight. Elephants were smart enough to stay away from the wiring; sauropods on the other hand were not the smartest of animals which meant that they had to be constantly reminded not to go near. It was a relatively low current so it was only a slight irritation for such large animals. At least this breakout happened before guests had arrived at Prehistoric Park. God if it happened while they were here it could permanently shut down the park.

"Hey what's this?" Vincent asked shining a light on a nearby tree.

Illuminated by the bright glow of the light the tree had several branches midway up the tree broken. Judging by the size of the tree toppled whatever had snapped these branches was much smaller. However, she could gather that it was still larger than a human. Her heart dropped when she noticed several black and white proto-feathers caught on some of the branches. That could have come from only one type of animal.

"A theropod is out."

"What's a theropod?"

"A suborder of dinosaurs. All the bipedal carnivores were theropods but the suborder also boasts omnivores, herbivores, piscivores and insectivores."

She heard Vincent swear. "Can you tell if it is a carnivore?"

"Not from the feathers but through context I know it is a carnivore. We need to find it."

With no way to communicate with Control this meant they had to find it themselves. This was not going to be a good night.

 _Near the Dakotaraptor Enclosure_

His headlights lit up several signs in different languages with silhouettes of animals on them. The ones written in English showed him that they were all for comedic purposes saying things along the lines of _Triceratops Crossing Point_ and _Struthiomimus on the Move_. He then saw what he recognised as the Dakotaraptor viewing area. Eagerly Mike parked the jeep and got out.

"Are we here?" Heather asked.

He nodded. Both of the teens got out following him up a set of stairs to the viewing area. The viewing area overlooked a sparse forest full to the brim with ferns. Mike was actually surprised how rocky the exhibit was as if it was built onto the incline of a mountain. A chill ran down his back when he realised that he could not see where the raptors were. For all he knew they could be watching him right now and he would be entirely defenceless if they attacked. _Pull yourself together Mike!_ Raptors could not get up here. They would not have built the viewing area here if the raptors could get to him.

At that moment he virtually jumped out of his skin. The quartz lights suddenly sprung to life illuminating the viewing area as some of the screens on the wall overlooking the exhibit turned on. Each one had various world flags on it as the words _Please select your language_ rolled across the top in various languages. He was impressed; New Zealand only changed its flag last month and the screen had the new silver fern flag instead of the old one. Assuming the New Zealand flag meant English he pressed the flag and his screen changed revealing information about the Dakotaraptor. There was even an inch high hologram of a raptor running in place from the top of the screen. Heather pressed a button further up the viewing area and, a hologram shot out of a projector revealing a Dakotaraptor in all its glory snarling and making bird noises.

"I didn't expect it to be so big," she said in awe. The raptor towered over the fifteen year old.

"That's because it's the largest species of raptor," Clarence said all-knowingly. Of course that was a mistake; Utahraptor was larger than the Dakotaraptor in both height and length.

At one end of the enclosure some trees parted revealing a carcass of a cow hanging on a hook. Only then did he notice that there was a railing stretching around the enclosure which the hook was attached to. In the wind the cow carcass swung back and forth making a noise of scraping metal as the hook moved about. There were some noises of disgust from Heather, when they had gone to zoos in the past they had never given the predators entire carcasses to eat. Quickly he pulled out his notepad ready to take notes about the hunt. That is if he could see the raptors. He spotted one directly below them. It was like some large bird of prey. Suddenly there was a noise like _kak-kak-kak_. The raptor below him made a different noise sounding like _yap-kak-kiyak_. They were communicating. Eagerly he wrote that down. According to his dad these raptors were as intelligent as a dog so it was not a surprise that they communicated.

"Look!" Heather cried pointing in front of the carcass.

Evidently she had not seen the raptor directly below them. The raptor was making low guttural hiss, a hiss exactly like a bird. Its rump was raised in the air with the tail outstretched as the raptor's chest was close to the ground. The wings were stretched out as far as possible from the body. He realised it was trying to make itself as large as possible. Eagerly he wrote this down. Just then another raptor appeared behind the carcass and was copying the first. As he wondered what this was meant to be for the attack happened. The raptor below them burst from its hiding place and jumped on one side of the carcass as another one burst from nowhere to jump on the other side. Both Heather and Clarence gave small cries of distress upon seeing the furious attack. With loud bird like calls and snarls the raptors started jabbing the side of the carcass with their signature toe claws. It looked like they were stabbing the carcass. Soon after the other two raptors jumped onto the carcass and proceeded to also stab the carcass.

"That's horrific!" Heather cried.

He dreaded to imagine if that carcass had been a living cow. Just as he was finishing the last of his notes the hook detached itself from the carcass which fell to the ground with a loud thud. The largest raptor started making a victorious bird like cry, a cry that was incredibly haunting. His palms were sweaty. That had been so exhilarating. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like to see a hunt with actual living animals. Did his dad's friend Amelia feel the same thing when she had watched hunts in the savannahs of Kenya?

"It was horrific but so exhilarating!" Heather was holding hands with her boyfriend keenly observing the raptors tear flesh from the carcass. "Thanks for taking us Mike."

He bit back his retort about having no choice in the matter. Despite the urge to stay here and watch the raptors consume their prey he knew that they would have to leave now. Every minute they were away from the house was another minute closer to being found out. Heather turned off the other lights casting the viewing area into darkness. Both Heather and Clarence were chattering like two small birds about going to see other animals in their enclosures at night.

"No we're going back now," Mike cut off quickly.

"But Mike…"

"No. Do you want dad to find out that we snuck out with his jeep?"

That quickly silenced any complaints. He put in directions back to the house, (alternative directions though so they could avoid the tree), and then set off. Quite quickly his jeep disappeared into the overgrown back roads. A gaggle of very large bats fluttered among the branches hungrily searching for fruits. To his left he could see through the undergrowth some fencing with a dinosaur beyond that. He could see that it was the size of an elephant with a bony crest, three horns and quills running down its huge body. The dinosaur was eating something which he couldn't see. A real life Triceratops. He had known that Prehistoric Park had Triceratops, (he had seen them on his first trip to the Nga Rara islands), but it was still so amazing to see them. Judging by how Heather and Clarence were talking about butterflies they had not seen the Triceratops.

"What the?"

The jeep had gone into part of the back roads which weren't overgrown. In fact they had emerged onto a plain. That was not what made him stop the jeep. Something was standing in the middle of the road. It was bipedal and fairly big. He started shaking. Although it was too dark to properly tell what it is he recognised that it had the characteristic theropod build. The theropod raised its head into the air apparently sniffing. It started moving and simply stepped over a three metre long gap between the road and what appeared to be an exhibit.

"Mike," Heather whimpered from the back. "Was that a dinosaur?"

"I…I think so."

There was a sob from the back.

 _Somewhere_

George woke up. His entire body hurt. In pain he sat up finding he had something stuck to his face. It was the air bag. His driving glasses were completely smashed by his feet. They must have fallen off during the crash. That was funny. The fingers on his left arm were tingling.

"Fuck!" he screamed.

A thin line of blood had been dripping down his arm and down to his hands but, that had nothing to do with why he screamed. A reptilian creature had been sniffing his fingers and had been lapping up the blood which had formed a crimson pool at the bottom of the door, (the door itself had flung open during the crash). The reptile backed off. It had bumpy skin, an s-shaped neck and bipedal in stature. Any other day he would have found it curious that it briefly walked on all fours but right now he didn't care. That thing could have started to eat him! He leant over and vomited outside the car. There was a pain in his mouth and as he vomited again a tooth came out with the bile. He swore again as he felt the pain around his neck. At a guess he must have whiplash but it would take until the next day for him to properly know. He felt his nose and could feel it bleeding. Despite the blood it was, thankfully, not broken.

"What am I going to do?" he sobbed. Tears painfully ran down his bruised face.

The boat! Yes if he managed to get to the docks he could get help. Not waiting for that reptile thing to come back for him he unbuckled his belt and stumbled out of the car. A pain roared through his head. Okay George take it slowly. The reptile made a chirrup. Fearful he stumbled to the back of the car to get his package. Luckily his foresight to tie it up with the seatbelt before he had set off earlier. That thing could have taken his head off if it had been bouncing about as the car crashed. With great effort he managed to lift it up. _Would I need that book?_ He decided it might be a good idea to take it so he looked in the front. After finding it, (it had gotten stuck under the front passenger seat), he tucked it under his right arm and carried the package with his left. Now where to go? He could see where his jeep had tumbled through the undergrowth but he knew there was no way that he could go back the way he came. The occasional pains in his head indicated he might have concussion and with concussion there was no way he could climb up that embankment. A chirrup echoed behind him and he dropped the box in alarm. A second reptile was now sniffing around the back of the jeep.

"Piss off."

The reptile just looked at him oddly before going back to examine the jeep. He remembered that in the access code list there were codes for animal enclosures. Maybe if he found the access code point that might help him get out of there. With a new determination he climbed back into the jeep and opened the glovebox. A few items fell out including the thing that he wanted: the torch. He decided to take the flare as well. He put the flare in the pocket of his coat, the book in the back of his jeans and, carried both the torch and the package. The thin beam of light from the torch caused the reptiles to make more curious chirrups.

"Where do people come to feed you?"

The beam of light highlighted some tyre tracks different to the ones that he had made. Slowly he started to follow the tracks. Behind him one of the reptiles leapt upon the red pool that had formed earlier and started to lap it up causing George to shudder. With every footstep mud squelched under his feet and unseen crickets chirruped in the night. He could feel biting insects happily digging into the side of his neck having a feast. Before him loomed the fencing which had a large gate built for a vehicle alongside a hut which straddled both sides of the fence. Miraculously he had found a way out first time. Relieved he ambled towards the hut and shoved the door. It remained closed. There was a keypad next to the door.

Not again. He had no idea what lived in this exhibit so there was no way of knowing which code to use. There was a guide to the animals in the back of the jeep. Frustrated he dropped the package and started walking back to the jeep. At least this time he had a hand free to swat flies and mosquitoes which tried to feast on him. When he arrived back at the jeep the reptiles were bobbing around looking for food. After a quick yell from him they darted off on two legs. He sat in the back of the jeep shining his torch and looking through the guide for the reptiles which were outside. After a few minutes he managed to find it: a ny…a ny…something beginning with n. Who names these things? He got back out of the car and headed back to the hut leaving the book in the jeep. Eventually he managed to start typing a code, (1201), into the keypad.

"Thank god!" he sighed picking up his package.

The hut was mercifully cool and he closed the door behind him. He pulled out his mobile to look at the time and phone for help but swore when he saw that it was smashed beyond belief. Instead he looked at his watch, a proper watch not one of those e-watches. The watch screen was slightly cracked but still legible. Christ he had been out for several hours. Not wanting to waste any more time he ambled towards the door after realising that there were no telephones in the hut. Just as he stepped out of the hut he remembered that thing in the road. What if it was still out there? It was big so he made the judgement that if he stayed out of the road it should be unable to reach him.

 _Somewhere in the park_

Amelia clutched the tranquiliser rifle in her hands. She had to keep it ready in case the escapee animal managed to sneak up on them, or any other escaped animal. That is if she managed to get the safety off quickly. The escaped sauropod, (she ruled out all other large animals), was less of a concern for her. It could topple another piece of fencing but with the storm the animals would not bother trying to make a break for freedom. Well she hoped so. What concerned her more was the escapee theropod. Several large three toed footprints had confirmed her theory that it was a theropod which made her more want to find it as soon as possible. For one, the theropod could break into another enclosure and kill an animal. Alternatively the theropod could itself be killed, Triceratops had developed very deadly horns for that purpose, but most importantly it could kill a human. Prehistoric Park's theropods were still not used to humans so that might prevent them from biting first and asking questions later.

The light emanating from the torch in Vincent's hand highlighted something unusual. A few metres away from the theropod track were a set of tyre tracks. The tyre tracks had swerved to the right and down a steep embankment. At the bottom she could see that it had smashed through some fencing.

"Let's go down there Vincent. They might be hurt."

Steadily they went down the embankment. She could see a beam of light shoot all over the place as Vincent struggled to go down without falling over himself. Amelia struggled herself going down thanks to the rifle in her hands.

"Damn!" Vincent said.

"What?"

"Sorry. Almost fell flat on my face."

They eventually reached the bottom without any further incidents. Immediately she spotted the crashed jeep. Vincent though stopped dead visibly shaking. Several featherless dinosaurs were bounding up and down the crashed jeep making chirruping noises. It was strange that such a large man was scared of something hardly half the size of a human. Considering that he had never truly been in the park it was understandable. After years of the media portraying dinosaurs and extinct animals as monsters a few hours of being around them would not change that perspective.

"Don't worry, they're Nyasasaurs. Not dangerous at all."

This was effectively proven when they darted off when they arrived at the jeep. It was a positive sign though. Boot prints could clearly be seen embedded in the mud and seemed to head towards the keeper hub. In fact from the footprints the driver had gone to the hub, returned to the jeep and gone back to the hub. A few droplets of blood worried her though.

"Well the driver is alive but how well they are…"

There was suddenly the blaring of a car horn and a low pitched caw like some giant cassowary. It was the call of a large theropod…


	10. Mission 5- Lobed Fish

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and a palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **This mission takes them back 360 million years to rescue a titanic giant fish and bump into one of the first pioneers of the land.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 5- Lobed Fish**

 **Prehistoric Park is preparing for another mission to rescue more extinct animals in addition to a group of territorial Stenaulorhynchus, several heavily armoured Glyptotherium and countless giant dragonflies just to name a few. Today the team are planning to rescue an animal somewhat different to the other residents of the park.**

Bob had been having a nice day so far. The first tank in the newly finished aquarium was nearing completion, Suzanne's rehabilitation of the mammoths were going well, the last of the infected Meganeura were now free of illness and, he had finally started playing this new Pokémon game which his kids and all the staff members below the age of thirty had been playing for the last week. Not to mention it turned out he was good at it. He opened the door to the portal warehouse, which the previous week had been filled with oxygen rich air, wondering what they were bringing back this week. He knew it had to be aquatic though if they required the next room. Adjacent to the main area of the warehouse was a door which led to a pool. In previous weeks he had allowed people to use it as an actual pool to escape the intense heat of the Nga Rare islands; that is until they put the Crassigyrinus in there until its exhibit was completed. That poor engineer had the shock of a lifetime…

He opened the door to the pool being immediately bathed in glimmering blue light. Unlike the warehouse this side area was never written off but instead reserved for rescuing freshwater animals. However, it was only for freshwater animals. Amelia, Phil and the other time travellers were busy with an inflatable boat. All were wearing wetsuits. Amelia smiled and waved at him when she noticed him.

"So what are you bringing me today?" Bob asked.

"With my foot still injured we can't do a rescue which might put pressure on it," Phil started to explain.

 **On their last mission Phil was attacked by the Crassigyrinus while trying to dislodge the stuck jeep. What initially appeared to be a simple bite later turned out to be a bite and a bruised ankle.**

"With my ankle done in we started thinking what to rescue. We then realised that Prehistoric Park had representatives from most classes. We have: reptiles, mammals, birds, amphibians, insects, arachnids and diplopods. However, we have left out one major group: fish. Fish were the first backboned animals to evolve and some have changed very little over millions of years. Sharks are a good example."

"Wait we're going after sharks. You never said sharks!" Jean said suddenly. Bob wondered if a certain blockbuster film had influenced Jean's reaction.

"Don't worry Jean, we're not after sharks," Phil laughed. "We're going after a lobe-finned fish today. The sarcopterygii today consist of coelacanths, lungfish and a very special group called the tetrapods. This group during a time called the Devonian were very diverse and we're going after one that lived during this time: the Hyneria."

 **The Devonian was a time of great evolutionary change. The giant invertebrates that inhabited the sea had started to vanish only to be replaced by the fish. It was a world dominated by fish with the Hyneria ruling the freshwater lakes of Pennsylvania.**

"I'm hoping we can find a specific animal there," Phil said half to himself.

"Just don't bring back too many unexpected animals. I know I let you rescue five unexpected animals but this time don't. It's harder to keep fully aquatic animals in holding so bring only two unexpected animals this time if you do bring any back. Okay, off you guys go."

He watched them struggle to get on two inflatable boats which were bobbing about in the water. Amelia and Mike climbed into one with some air tanks and a rucksack while Phil and Jean climbed into the other with the communicator. Water splashed up and down as the time travellers rowed towards two pylons partially submerged into the glistening water. Between the two pylons an ethereal gyre emerged. Curiously a minute whirlpool had formed at the entrance of the vortex. Despite the whirlpool the time travellers easily vanished through the shimmering mirage.

"Now just how big is this Hyneria?" he wondered opening the file that he had. "I was expecting something like a koi!"

Amelia felt like she was going to faint. Judging by the looks of the others she assumed she was not the only one to feel like passing out. That would be a great opening for the episode they were filming. As soon as the intrepid adventurers pass into the Devonian they pass out! Amelia knew that the Devonian was warmer than the modern world with only seventy-five percent the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere as the twenty-first century; however, she still was not prepared for this. Spots dotted her view from the abrupt change in atmospheric conditions. Through the dots she could make out that they had emerged onto a floodplain surrounded by large trees similar to redwoods. Still lightheaded she used her paddle to edge the boat's way to the shore. Phil too started copying her. With a bump they landed at the edge of the floodplains. Wasting no time they each grabbed the air tanks and started greedily inhaling through the gas masks.

"As you can see we're not accustomed to the Devonian atmosphere," Amelia said through gasps of air to the camera. "Here at Red Hill Shale in Pennsylvania we have the misfortune of being somewhere with less oxygen that we're used to with higher temperatures."

The spots had started to clear within a few minutes of gasping through a gas mask. What did not help was being in this wetsuit. It clung to her like some sort of mix between clothing and a limpet which made the clamminess even worse. All she wanted to do was dive into the water to cool down; not a wise idea considering the size of Hyneria. She had to think of a plan to find them first. If she thought tracking dragonflies during the last mission was difficult then no doubt tracking a fish would be. She didn't even know if Hyneria had a good sense of smell. Sharks had an excellent sense of smell and could detect a drop of blood for miles. If Hyneria had the same sense of smell then she could have simply dropped some chum in the water. Judging by modern day lungfish and coelacanths she doubted Hyneria would have the incredible sense of smell as sharks. Absentmindedly she watched a small millipede climb up a rock. At only two centimetres it was virtually non-existent compared to the park's Arthropleura. _Pull yourself together! Possibly millions will watch this when made and so far all the editing department has to work with is you looking at a millipede!_

"Okay. The Red Hill Shale is divided between a floodplain and a shallow channel margin. Luckily for us Hyneria is found in both." Amelia stood up a bit too quickly and wobbled thanks to the lack of oxygen. Mike and Jean quickly rushed to prop her up. "Thanks guys. From what I can make out this floodplain is shallower than the channel so we might be able to find a young Hyneria…"

She had just noticed something. A fin had parted the water and was thrashing around the end of one of the boats. Despite the water frothing madly she managed to make out two more fins on the back of the fish.

"That could either be the unidentified rhizodont species or the Hyneria," Phil explained standing up. A flash of pain rushed across his face as he put weight on his injured ankle. Despite his injury he still wanted to go wrestling with prehistoric monsters.

"Phil you'll do yourself too much damage trying to go after that," Amelia said. "Let me do it instead."

 **Meanwhile, back at the park one of the Head Vets Jesse Washington is making sure the last of the residents rescued from the last mission gets released into their new home in the Carboniferous Dome.**

Carefully Jesse lifted the lid off of the tank. Equally as carefully he picked up the giant insect fluttering its translucent wings gently up and down. Despite the large size of the dragonfly it did not seem to be that heavy. This one would be lighter than the rest due to the fact it had been recently ill but a healthy one, at a guess, would weigh around a pound. As soon as the dragonfly had been removed from the tank its wings started fluttering intensely as it knew it was almost time to be free. He let go and it shot off in a green flash. Jesse laughed as he saw that another Meganeura had settled on the boom mic and the sound technician was furiously trying to shake it off. Whether the dragonfly set off from being waved at or through boredom he couldn't tell.

"With Suzanne preoccupied with the mammoths it's been up to me to make sure our dragonflies were released safely. Wait…there's Bob."

Bob was carrying a bucket, all the while avoiding a Meganeura diving at the bucket, towards one of the glass tanks embedded in the wall. One contained a myriapod which he hardly ever saw, (it would always scurry about, unseen, in the undergrowth), while the other contained the lizard-like Westlothiana. Jesse waved over to Bob who walked up to him avoiding the big dragonfly.

"Hey Jesse I hoped you could help me with something."

"Sure." Bob led him to the Westlothiana tank. Prehistoric Park exhibited four Westlothiana but Jesse could only see one which was resting on a log under a bright light.

 **The Westlothiana was rescued from Carboniferous Scotland 338 million years ago from a wildfire. Since being rescued the Westlothiana have not settled in.**

This was the first time that he had actually seen one of the lizard-like reptiles actually relaxing. Normally they would constantly scurry through the underbrush rarely stopping and only then it was either through hunger, thirst or exhaustion. Another one just proved this by suddenly bursting from a bush only to go back into another one. It seemed that they were on edge. What could be wrong with them? He looked at the one asleep on the log. It was amazing how much they looked like skinks. Like skinks…

"The time travellers used buried buckets to capture these guys. I think Dr. Steiner even mentioned that there was a theory that they might have lived like skinks. Well skinks make burrows," Jesse pondered aloud.

"Ah. Our conundrum is resolved!" Bob happily cried. He ducked as a dragonfly went back for the bucket. "They still don't know that this place is safe so they haven't made any burrows. What if I personally make some burrows for them? That might show them that this place is safe."

 **Could some burrows help the Westlothiana settle down in Prehistoric Park? As Bob gets some burrows made Amelia is going extreme fishing in Devonian Pennsylvania.**

She pulled out some netting from her backpack. A part of her knew that having this netting would come in handy. Her plan would involve both herself and Mike holding ends of the net. As she waded into the water after the fish Mike would go above on the boats. She firmly held the net in her hands. Quite likely this fish, whether it be a Hyneria or not, would be strong so if she wanted to catch the fish she needed a strong grip. Her foot went into the water. The coolness shot right up her leg. Soon the water was up to her knees, then her hips. Meanwhile, Mike had managed to get on the boat with his end of the net hanging over the fish. She moved around in the refreshing water until she was in position.

"Now!"

Mike threw his end of the net and she threw hers. Mike's hit but she ended up missing. That was why she had two people with the nets. The fish started thrashing around under the net and she could see green scales shimmering in the sunlight. Quickly she jumped on top of the flailing fish. Half of her body became submerged under the water which in any other situation would have been perfectly refreshing. Her muscles strained to keep hold of the fish as it furiously tried to escape her grip. The scales occasionally slipped out from under her grip thanks to the power of the fish and the slime on the scales themselves. The lack of oxygen mixed with wrestling the fish made her go light headed. She could feel the fish start to wriggle out of her grip. Suddenly there was another splash. Somebody had grabbed hold of the fish. It was Mike!

"Come here ya monster!"

With the both of them wrestling with the fish it became easier to subdue it. They managed to take it out of the net so they could get a good look at the fish. It had a massive set of jaws, several short, lobed fins, green scales with blue stripes and lots of pointed teeth perfect for tearing into the flesh of other fish. At a glance Amelia estimated it to be a metre and a half long.

"That is a young Hyneria!" Phil said from the boat apparently upset that he couldn't wrestle the fish himself. "Just look at those fins!"

"I heard Hyneria can go on the land like an orca!" Jean yelled over the sound of splashing water created by the writhing fish. If she was not wrestling a metre long, carnivorous fish she would have been impressed that Jean did his research.

"Close but no," Phil yelled. "Amelia show us the fins…Nevermind I see you're busy I'll zoom in with my camera. See those front fins. Perfect for navigating in shallow water and around obstacles. That doesn't make them any less impressive though."

Phil ambled from his boat vantage point with the portal sticks in hand. He got into the water and then proceeded to shove the sticks firmly into the sediment that made up the bottom of the river. A shining light burst from the water and Amelia could see a small whirlpool forming at the entrance of the portal. She yelled at Mike, who now seemed to regret jumping in to wrestle with the fish, and they proceeded to walk towards the portal. Just before the whirlpool they released the Hyneria. She could have cried tears of happiness when the fish slipped through the portal.

"Fantastic! Our first Hyneria!" Phil cried leaning down to shut off the portal.

"What do you mean? We rescued a Hyneria, we can go home," Mike asked puzzled.

""Exactly. _A_ Hyneria. The floodplain is where the young Hyneria live. We want to rescue an adult so we need to go to the channel."

Mike looked like he could cry.

 **As the time travellers prepare to hunt for a fully grown Hyneria Bob is busy seeing if his plan to make burrows for the Westlothiana actually works.**

Bob firmly held the little reptile in his gloved hand. It wriggled and writhed in his palm trying desperately trying to escape the potential danger that Bob posed. The keeper hub's lights shone brightly which made Bob curse; it might have calmed the lizard creature if the lights were turned off. Darkness always seemed to have a soothing effect on animals. He placed the Weslothiana on the floor and it quickly darted off.

"I have to wear these gloves. Can't be too certain if these guys carry salmonella like their descendants."

Within the next minute the other three Westlothiana had joined the first. He had made several burrows so the amniotes could choose which one they preferred. Bob just hoped that they weren't too fussed about moving into premade burrows. A nearby burrow was just then fought over by two Westlothiana. They hissed angrily at one another and bared their dark blue tongues.

"Hey you little tykes. There's no need to fight."

He brushed one of the lizard creatures which caused one of them to attempt to bite his finger. The other ran off into bushes. The victor quickly slinked into the burrow. Bob smiled as he could see the minute reptile rest its head at the entrance to the burrow. It blinked before closing its eyes.

"When we started rescuing animals I was worried that every mission we would be having giant, monstrous demons being brought to Prehistoric Park," Bob confessed looking at the camera crew. "I'm glad we have some like these guys. Even our larger animals aren't too much trouble….at times."

Bob then heard something through his headset.

"And speaking of our larger animals…"

 **Going from one of Prehistoric Park's smallest animals to the largest is Park Vet Suzanne with Head Ranger Morarji continuing their therapy for Saqui the Columbian mammoth. Today Suzanne wants to enact a more forceful treatment.**

"Just walk slowly and she won't charge!" Suzanne yelled from the safety of the bus.

Morarji found that very easy for her to say. She was in the safety of what will eventually become one of the park's tour buses. Instead he was standing in the middle of a plain just waiting for Saqui the matriarch to charge at him. He could see her from where he stood. Likely she could see him as well. He gulped and hoped simultaneously that the mammoth would see that he only had one arm and see that he meant her no harm. Saqui turned to face him. He gulped again. The matriarch started walking towards him shaking her mighty head as she walked. He had seen elephants in the wild in both Kenya and India and Saqui easily dwarfed them.

"Okay Saqui I'm a friend!" he whimpered.

What was he doing? How could a mammoth whose species went extinct prior to there even being an English Channel know English? The mammoth was now only a few metres away from him. He could feel the sweat pouring down his face. Saqui snorted and waved her large ears to see his reaction. After a minute, which seemed to last for decades, Saqui seemed to lose interest in this new, non-threatening male figure in her territory. He gave a very audible sigh of relief and started brusquely walking towards the bus. Within another minute he had reached the safety of the bus.

"That's excellent! Saqui has decided not to attack you," Suzanne said with triumph in her voice.

"As long as I don't have to go in there again!" Hopefully that meant she would stop trashing jeeps. Suddenly a voice came through his headset which Suzanne seemed to hear as well. It was the voice of the other palaeontologist, Dr. Alfred Steiner.

"Hello. They have just rescued the first animal on this mission. It seems to be a young Hyneria. The fact that they have yet to come back through indicates that they shall be rescuing another one. For the time being we should keep them apart as it is likely that they could attack one another."

 **As Prehistoric Park deals with their first Hyneria the team are now heading off into deeper water to hunt for a second one. They should be wary though; deeper water means larger fish.**

They gently rowed the boat. With less oxygen, the warm weather and thick wetsuits they had no choice but to row gently to avoid overextension. It was slow progress thanks to the slow rowing speed and the occasional stops to breathe from the air tanks. That is until they saw the unidentified Red Hill rhizodont and Phil wanted to jump into the water after it. She put her foot down after that, mainly due to the fact that it was unidentified. After an hour they had finally left the floodplains and entered the channel margin. It was oddly peaceful with the sun shining brightly as the river's current moved them further up the channel.

"So why did Hyneria go extinct? They seem well adapted to living here," she heard Jean ask from the other boat.

"We don't actually know why. Around this time the world temperature rose which caused the extinction of the heavily armoured placoderm fish in the seas. Well even slight temperature changes can mess up a habitat. Just look what happened to the Carboniferous swamps!" Phil was the prime source of knowledge for anything extinct. She had a feeling that they would be totally blind without him.

Mike was practically falling asleep. Before they had set off he had attached some string to a stick he had found and had cast it off into the river. She had joked that he would not catch anything but other sticks without any bait until he had told her that he had 'borrowed' some of the food in her bag. Following that the conversations on her boat had ceased forthwith. Anyway Mike's plan was completely asinine. It's like trying to catch a great white with a worm on a rod. Hyneria's estimated max size was four metres long, not the five metres shown in the media, which meant it would be unlikely that such a large fish would go for half a sandwich on a string. Not to mention how it was a jam sandwich. Hyneria ate fish not mashed up sweetened strawberries.

Suddenly Mike pulled on the rod and something was on the end of it. Clearly it was not a Hyneria, for one it barely reached six centimetres in length, but it was a fish. The front half of the fish was very bizarre with it being covered in bony plates.

"What the hell is that?" she asked.

"Evidence that my plan did work!" Mike yelled in triumph.

"Actually it's a placoderm, an armoured, fish. Turrisaspis by the looks of it. These…" Phil was suddenly cut off. Something had burst from the water and its jaws clamped round the unarmoured half of the fish. Red spurts burst all around the place staining the side of the boat. Mike shrieked as the head smashed back into the water. A red trail came from a black shadow going from the boat. It went to a log which had fallen into the water and surprisingly walked out onto the log. It wasn't a fish! Instead it looked exactly like a newt except it had eight toes and was about a metre in length. The newt monster was black with fiery red marks running across the sides of the body.

"I can't believe it!" Phil virtually screamed in delight. "It's Hynerpeton. This is what I wanted to see! These are early amphibians and one of the first vertebrates to walk on the land."

She was speechless. If they were one of the first land vertebrates could they be the ancestors to her and all other land vertebrates? "Is that our ancestor?"

"Not Hynerpeton no. Look it has eight toes, our ancestors had five. Hence this…" He held out one hand to show his digits. "They're a close cousin though."

Out of all the things she expected to see today the cousin to the ancestor of all land vertebrates was not one of them. The Hynerpeton slunk back into the water and, thanks to the parting of the water, swam to the shoreline where other amphibians seemed to be. Eagerly Phil started paddling towards the coast. What palaeontologist would not want to see this relic up close and personal? It was a comical sight watching Jean trying to keep up with the excited palaeontologist. Something was odd though.

"Why are the Hynerpeton congregating on the shore? There's no shade and in this sun there's nothing protecting their skin bar the water. Why would they stay out of it?"

 **Amelia should have realised by now that sometimes when you ask a question in prehistoric times it can be answered awfully quickly…**

Both her and Mike screamed as the water exploded before them. A large fish head thundered from the water with jaws agape. It clasped the edge of the boat with a sickening crunch causing the end of the boat to splinter. The water violently thrashed as the fish tried to get at the humans. It managed to get part of its head on the end of the boat causing it to partially submerge. Devonian water surged up the boat and Amelia could feel her ankles get covered in the warmth of the water. Somebody in the other boat threw a paddle at it as but it bounded off the gigantic body of the fish. Amelia grabbed her paddle and hit it around the face. The fish snapped its jaws and then fell back into the water with a gigantic splash. The boat violently snapped back level with the river knocking them about.

"Shit," Mike said panting.

"A Hyneria!" Phil yelled. "About three and a half metres long from what I could see!"

"Great now I know next time the bastard is trying to eat me how long it is!" Mike cried.

Amelia looked at the end of the boat to see that the damage done. Parts of the plastic edge had cracked and the other parts which the Hyneria had bitten just had some dents from the sharp teeth. This was the perfect time to narrate for the camera. "Just look at these indents. I've had this boat for years so that's why this part cracked. By the looks of it Hyneria likely stabbed prey to death with these ferocious teeth. They likely went after us through desperation; we're too big for a Hyneria but with rising temperatures they're normal prey is getting scarce."

 **In times of hardship it is not unusual for predators to hunt things not normally on the menu.**

After miraculously fishing out Phil's paddle they made their way to the coast where the Hynerpeton were now languishing. Even before they arrived at the side of the coast she could tell that they were suffering. The normally wet, pebbly skin that the Hynerpeton normally had seemed dangerously dry and cracked. All five of the Hynerpeton were making exasperated noises of pain.

"Hynerpeton is only known from this time," Phil said with sorrow in his voice.

"They're trapped between a rock and a hard place," Amelia replied sadly. "They can't go into the water thanks to that hungry Hyneria but if they stay on land the sun will dry out their skin. With rising temperatures that doesn't help at all."

"Die or dry," Mike said solemnly.

 **While others might see the Hynerpeton's situation as being a tragedy Amelia instead sees it as an opportunity.**

She shoved the portal sticks firmly into the mud of the river. Quickly she messaged Igor that Prehistoric Park would be getting some new residents who were close cousins to the ancestors of humanity. She gave some instructions to the others who sprang into action. Mike forced one end of a paddle into the mud next to the portal as Phil forced the other paddle into the dirt further away from the river. They then proceeded to tie Amelia's net between the two paddles. While they were doing that Jean and herself put the boats side by side.

"The Hynerpeton will eventually have to go into the water," Amelia explained. "We've created a funnel, the net on one side and the boats the other, so they only way they have to go is through the portal and to the safety of Prehistoric Park. All we have to do is wait."

 **Amelia's plan, however, is entirely reliant on the Hynerpeton who don't seem to be in any rush.**

The Hynerpeton spent the rest of the day lounging in the sun or doing strange push ups while making croaking noises. She could see their throats expanding each time they croaked. Only two of the amphibians were doing this strange ritual which led her to believe that they were males competing in non-violent competition. This lasted for the entire day though. They would croak and do push ups as the females slept in the sun. They all grew bored and tired. The sun soared across the sky before plunging along the horizon casting purple light over the land. Despite this the Hynerpeton continued on with their activities. As the sun started to set in its entirety Amelia had become transfixed by a myriapod crawling over a tree trunk.

"Look!" someone whispered.

Finally the Hynerpeton had started to head to the water. As they got close to the edge of the water she remotely turned on the portal. She noticed that water from the other side trickled through the portal. The dehydrated Hynerpeton noticed this and eagerly picked up the pace. Soon after the last of the newt-like tails vanished through the portal. Now all they had to do was somehow catch a Hyneria…

 **Although they have caught the prey of the Hyneria they still need to catch the Hyneria itself and Amelia has an extreme plan to do this.**

After packing her net away Amelia dislodged the portal sticks from the riverbank before proceeding to wade further into the water. Now that the Devonian sun had set it had gone icy cold. She just hoped that there wasn't a Devonian equivalent of a bull shark. When she had to start treading water she ducked her head under. Her extremities felt the icy coldness of the water as she managed to force the portal sticks into the riverbed. Luckily the time portal sticks were waterproof. She quickly surfaced and made her way to the shore.

"The Hyneria is hungry and has tried to attack her," she said without much enthusiasm. It was her plan but she didn't like it. "Let's hope it has eaten recently."

They moved their boats just before the time portal. Amelia started smashing the surface of the water with a paddle hoping this could attract the Hyneria from earlier. Hopefully it would mistake the splashing for a Hynerpeton. As her arms started getting tired she saw it. The large fish head piercing the water with thin fins following after. Quickly she remotely opened the portal and she could feel the water bubble behind her. Phil and Jean made their way through the portal. As the Hyneria started getting closer Mike and herself started paddling through the portal. She could feel the portal slip eerily over her skin as they emerged into the warehouse pool. Quickly they started paddling to the side until…

She was falling and water rushed around her. She managed to open her eyes underwater to see that a fully grown Hyneria had come through the portal. Frantically her and Mike started swimming to the side. There was no way they could do it. No way could a human outswim a carnivorous fish. Luckily she didn't have to outswim it. When the Hyneria had knocked over the boat it also knocked over the air tanks and was now being distracted by the tank. She felt hands pulling on her shoulders and she suddenly left the water for the safety of the side of the pool.

"Good grief Amelia!" Bob cried rubbing his almost bald head. "Now that is a big fish!"

 **After their narrow escape from a hungry Hyneria the time travellers can relax. Now is the time for the new residents to settle in.**

The time travellers, Bob and Hiroshi walked through the aquarium now filled with several animals. Part of the aquarium had been named the Red Hill Shale where the new animals had been moved to. They passed through a corridor where one side a tank the young Hyneria was now swimming under several logs while on the other side of the corridor there was a glass barrier. Behind that barrier the Hynerpeton happily swam around a waterfall without the threat of a Hyneria coming around the corner. What Hiroshi was most eager to see though was the adult Hyneria. _Hyneria Hideout_ comprised of a wooden bridge over which was basically a small lake. Bob threw a fish into the water and soon fins parted the water and the mighty fish swallowed it whole.

"That is the perfect fish to start our aquarium with," Hiroshi said awestruck. "Such a fascinating animal, I'm practically in love. I cannot wait for people to see the them. I can just imagine it now: the Lake Monster of Hyner."

Amelia looked at the fish with whose scales were glistening in the light. It was a truly remarkable animal.

 **Now that Prehistoric Park has its first fish it can begin preparations for the next adventure!**

 **Rescued this chapter:**

2 Hyneria lindae 2 female

5 Hynerpeton bassetti 2 female, 3 male

 **Seen but not rescued:**

Turrisaspis elector

Red Hill rhizodont

Unidentified myriapod

 **Trivia and Notes:**

 **1\. This mission was going to be for Tiktaalik but I thought Hyneria needed some much needed attention.**

 **2\. The colouration of Hynerpeton is based on the fire bellied newt. I also made up Hynerpeton having a throat pouch.**

 **3\. There was going to be a dig about Walking with Monsters making the Hyneria too big but I decided to cut it out.**

 **4\. We don't know the actual size of Hynerpeton so I decided to make it half the size of Ichtyostega.**

 **First I would like to say another fanfiction writer nphillips0115 is writing a Prehistoric Park story called Prehistoric Park: Reborn. Let's all give nphillips0115 support. Second I just want to say I'm no longer taking requests for missions. Finally, please give me names for the aquarium; I have yet to think of a name so please send me names.**


	11. One Long Day- Part 5

**One Long Day- Part 5**

 _Carboniferous Dome_

Bob could hear the rain tap the plastic cells of the biodome roof constantly. Judging by the amount of times he could hear the _pat, pat, pat_ of raindrops he assumed the storm must have relented. He brushed his moustache and picked up the bucket by his feet. Angrily he waved his arm above his head as another dragonfly tried to dive-bomb him. After five years he had never gotten used to the Meganeura diving after the buckets of food; both the biodome and the aviary populations had a habit of doing this. Bob walked under the wooden bridge along the stone floor that ran through the oxygen rich, humid forest of the Carboniferous Dome. Shadows cast from the bridge had enveloped the path that he walked along. There shouldn't even be shadows at this time of night but the only reason that they existed was thanks to the lamps casting artificial lights for keepers.

That brought up why he was in the Carboniferous Dome so late at night. Despite being Head Keeper that did not exclude him from doing the occasional night shift. Luckily he did not have to oversee feeding the Dakotaraptor tonight; some other unfortunate keeper had the pleasure of being out at night during a fierce storm. As long as it wasn't like the 2016 storm he would be fine. Since that night he had dreaded any storm which hit the Nga Rara islands at night. He reached a door, which appeared to be built directly into stone, and unlocked it. The keeper hub for the Carboniferous House was quite advanced having a few security screens, a desktop which controlled the atmosphere of the biodome, a refrigeration unit to store food for the animals and a two way mirror built into an enclosure. He looked through the mirror to see if he could spot an Arthropleura scuttling about. No such luck today.

He opened the refrigerator and placed the bucket inside with the rest. Bob noticed that the security cameras just showed black screens. Evidently Graham had yet to fix the security system. Should he put the atmospheric generator on a setting to make it rain? It rained in the Carboniferous Dome yesterday but it rained all the time during the Carboniferous nonetheless. What harm could it do? He strolled up to the desktop and started fiddling about with the buttons until he could hear rain trickle over the plants in the dome. Domes like these were unique in Prehistoric Park; Shinchoku Co.'s outdoor atmospheric generator allowed prehistoric animals from times with greater oxygen to leave happily outside biodomes. How they worked he had no idea. All he did know was that they could not replicate atmospheres with over thirty percent oxygen in it; with the Cretaceous enclosures they only just could cope. Bob always loved going into the biodomes. Each one could take you all around the world and through time by millions of years within seconds. You could go from seeing a woolly mammoth herd in a frozen wonderland to seeing formidable gorgonopsids from just before a major mass extinction without ever leaving the island chain. Similarly the aquarium, aviary and even the Herptile and Invertebrate House had the same effect. Prehistoric Park was truly the new wonder of the world.

He grabbed his coat before leaving the keeper hub. Precipitation had practically drenched the entire dome already. There was still a buzz in the air from Meganeura who had been flying under the canopy so had yet to be downed by the rain. He passed through the air lock which separated the oxygen and carbon dioxide rich world of the Carboniferous and the modern world. He glanced at a sign which warned people about the Carboniferous Dome: don't go in if pregnant, don't go in if you had respiratory or heart problems, don't go in if you don't like bugs, don't smoke etc. He wondered how many members of the public would take notice of that sign. That's just what Prehistoric Park needed: a guest ignoring the rules and confirming the image that extinct animals were monsters.

Prehistoric Park had not opened yet and already it had garnered controversy. Most animal rights groups had applauded the park for ending extinction for many animals while some of the more extreme ones had practically been splintered thanks to the park. How could they react to a place which had animals in captivity but simultaneously was responsible for bringing them back from extinction? Initially the park had been criticised that Hiroshi Komon had wasted the first time portal on saving extinct animals instead of doing things like preventing the rise of dictators but luckily when it was released that it could only go back to a certain date that managed to deflect that criticism. However, that did not stop some of the conservative religious groups being up in arms about Prehistoric Park. Of course many atheists, theists, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and who knows how many other religions all agreed that Prehistoric Park was amazing. Heck Pope Francis and the Grand Mufti of Europe endorsed this place! It was some of the conservative fringe groups who criticised Prehistoric Park as they saw it as playing God. Thankfully those fringe groups were exactly that, _fringe_ groups.

What worried him were not animal rights groups or conservative religious groups, after all one was half in support of the park and the one was largely ignored by the rest of society, but rather family groups and the media. Often worried groups had demonised violent video games and films with little backing which the media happily gobbled up. As soon as Prehistoric Park had been announced these overly concerned parent groups saw Hollywood's version of extinct animals, took it as the truth and said that the park's inhabitants would immediately break down and eagerly tear apart their precious children. Of course the mass media leapt on this like a dog with a bone. Whereas animal rights opposition was belated and religious extremist opposition was ignored the opposition from family groups was given widespread attention. Thankfully, Shinchoku Co.'s public relations team had calmed most of the public's fears but Prehistoric Park just needed one guest bitten because they were being an idiot and the fears of the oversensitive parents would be confirmed.

As Bob climbed into his car he noticed something. The Carboniferous Dome had been strategically built to be both inside the Perimeter Fence and out of it. It allowed guests to start their trip through prehistory from their hotel, go through a time where terrestrial life first became big and then continue on their way. Well, that was how Hiroshi planned it. Staff, meanwhile, had been using as a shortcut. Earlier that night he had parked his car on the outside of the Perimeter Fence. As he stood by his jeep he could see something moving in the foliage up ahead. It seemed to be panting as well. He pulled his torch out and started shining the bright light.

"What are you doing there?" he asked the dinosaur. More precisely, a young Tenontosaurus. He sighed knowing the storm must have caused a fence breakage. A tree was must have blown over and this little guy hoped the fence via the tree. _Best get him back to his enclosure before he goes somewhere where he's not supposed to._ He went to his headset but only got static. Frustrated he got out his phone and rang Morarji. Soon after the Head Ranger got back to him.

"Hello Bob. How can I help?"

"I've got a bit of a situation here. Young Tenon'osaur's hopped 'is fence. I think a tree's knocked o'er the fence and he jumped the fence."

"If that's all that happens tonight I'll be happy! Haha! Where's your position?"

"Western Carboniferous Dome entrance."

Morarji mentioned that he would send some people over. To make sure the little dinosaur would not run off deeper into Prehistoric Park; something Bob was sure would not happen thanks to its wheezing. At this part of the park the atmospheric generators did not reach so it could not benefit from the increased oxygen that it was used to. Suddenly the dinosaur darted away. Bob, though, made no attempt to stop it. There was a sound was cracking wood, thundering feet and deep rumbles echoed around. He froze where he was. Whatever it was had smashed through the trees in front of him as if they were matchsticks. It was upon him.

 _On the backroad_

Mike could have passed out. The car bounded as he drove over every bump in the road and every hole. Heather and Clarence were both whimpering in the back, fearful of the monster that they had seen in the middle of the road. No way could that have been a large theropod dinosaur. His dad had said that Prehistoric Park was completely safe so how could it be a real dinosaur? But there was no way to get around it. That was a real dinosaur out of its enclosure.

"Was it a T rex?" Heather whimpered from the back.

He couldn't tell. He honestly couldn't tell. Mike strained his memory trying to think if it had any characteristics which could be made out. Were there any though? Wait, it was smaller than a Tyrannosaurus. Well, a fully grown one at least. That didn't rule out the possibility of it being a younger one. The skull was different though; in the darkness he remembered it being longer and less robust compared to that of the Tyrannosaurus. Could that be because of the darkness?

"No it wasn't a T rex," he breathed. What was it then?

"Can you tell what it was?" Heather asked worried. It sounded like she had tears building up.

"No. No I couldn't tell."

"What do you mean you couldn't tell?" Clarence demanded angrily. He was yelling. "You've been reading that fucking book all day so how can't you tell what it is? You've been to this place so you must know! You're useless!"

Mike lost his temper then. He broke hard causing both teenagers in the back to go flying forward. At this point he didn't care. Angrily he turned around to look the egotistical imbecile straight in his eyes. "Listen here you little shit! There's something big running around here and it's too dark to tell what it is. We need to get to the main base to tell them that something's loose. What I don't need is you shouting in my ear like a child!"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Clarence angrily retorted. "You think you can push me around? My uncle's a mayor and my dad is a lawyer. You're just some nerd who thinks he's cool because his dad looks after dinosaurs. A dad who took you here immediately to this place and never took Heather. You're a stupid nerd!"

"Shut up! Stay out of my family life you know nothing!"

"Please stop it!" Heather yelled. The fighting then stopped. Angrily Mike turned around putting the car in gear again. Suddenly there was a blinding pain at the back of his head and he felt himself falling forward. Painfully his head smashed into the steering wheel causing the car horn to blare out dangerously loudly.

"Clarence what the fuck are you doing?" he heard Heather yelled.

Mike swore but it had nothing to do being punched in the back of the head or Clarence's bullshit excuse of _'defending Heather's honour'_. In the enclosure next to them, which the shadow dinosaur had simply stepped into earlier, a flock of ostrich like dinosaurs swerved. The large shadow chasing them did not, however. It looked straight at the car. It looked straight at the car and started walking towards it. All three of them started screaming. The dinosaur was almost reaching the gap between the enclosure and the road when his brain kicked into gear again. He stepped on the accelerator causing the car to shoot forward. All three of them were shaken about violently as the car bounced over the bumps on the road. Through the mirror he could see a black shape start to follow them with jaws outstretched.

"Mike go faster!" Heather yelled.

All of his senses had become numb. Heather's and Clarence's screams, the bumps of the road, even the deep cassowary like snarls of the dinosaur behind them all seemed to be forced out of his mind. All that he seemed to focus on was the road in front of him. Sharply he turned the wheel hoping this could put the dinosaur off. The screams from the teenagers which seemed a thousand miles away indicated that it had failed to do that. He wanted desperately to put his foot down but he couldn't; the amount of holes on the road and, the twists and turns could easily cause them to spin off the road. If that happened the dinosaur might not need to get at them.

It was so close. So close that he could make out its features. The long white teeth, the elongated head, the red protofeathers on the top of the head. Christ he could even make out what the monster was. At that moment he decided to throw caution to the wind. If he could see the dinosaur clearly then he might as well. He put his foot down so much that it touched the floor. The car shot forward like a bullet from a gun and the dinosaur vanished from the mirror. Burning rubber could be smelt around them as he swerved left and right which forced them to bounce from one side of the car to another. He could not see the dinosaur anymore but that did not stop him. He wanted to get away as quickly as possible. He drove, and drove, and drove, and drove, and dr…

"Mike!" Heather yelled.

He suddenly stopped the car. They were in the middle of an open plain. Where were they? Puzzled he started driving back the way they came; yes it was closer to the dinosaur but he had driven so far it probably lost interest a while ago. Probably. Soon large tropical trees started rushing past them.

"I'm sorry Mike. I really am," Clarence said sobbing.

"It's fine. I'm sorry as well." He was still breathing quickly. His heart was going a million miles an hour. "It was an Acrocanthosaurus."

"Great. We almost got killed by an acrothantothingy," Heather panted. "Mike. Are we going to be okay?"

"We should be. Acrocanthosaurus wasn't a fast dinosaur so if we stay in the car…"

He suddenly braked, again. A man was in the middle of the road.

 _Somewhere in the park_

George was tired. He had never felt this tired before. Every step he took was agony. All his body was in pain from the crash, his arm ached from carrying the package, his head hurt from being forced into the steering wheel and now his neck was itchy from being bitten by mosquitoes. Now the next thing to top it all off would be finding a leech in his clothing or some other insidious creature of a similar nature. A bird, or bat, shot from the tree above him and he dropped the package in fright. For a moment he thought that giant beast from before had crashed through the foliage. Teeth chattering he picked up the package while swearing at his own stupidity. When he imagined going through Prehistoric Park he imagined doing it with his wife and children. Walking through the park with his entire body battered and bruised while so tired he found it hard to keep his eyes open.

Where was he even going? The only map he had was that hologram on the dashboard of the car. While he was in the nysamathing enclosure he was too preoccupied about not being picked apart by the dinosaurs themselves to look in the car for a map. Did he pass this way earlier? He couldn't tell. All these forests looked the same to him. Where was a signpost when you… What was that? Thank god it was a map of the island that he was on. A large red arrow indicated where he was. For goodness sake he had hardly walked anywhere! The arrow was practically on the nicesaurus exhibit. Wait…If this sign was here that meant that it would be a main path. Prehistoric Park HQ would know that the thing from earlier was roaming about. They'll have people going up and down this road so if he just stayed on this stretch of road they'll be sure to find him. Why not just wait here?

George decided at that moment to rest under a nearby tree. He was normally a light sleeper so if a car was coming he would be able to hear it. On the same note if a dinosaur came he would be able to wake up. As a kid he had been a good tree climber so hopefully climbing trees were like riding bikes. He slumped at the bottom of the tree and closed his eyes. He was so tired. Within seconds he was asleep.

Just then he woke up. Groggily he opened his eyes. Odd. His lip felt numb. George placed a hand against his mouth and felt a lump. Did that happen because of the crash earlier? A chilling realisation just struck him like a madman wielding a sledgehammer. _It was a leech!_ In disgust he grabbed the parasite and pulled it from his lip. A searing pain scorched his lip as he could taste the blood in his mouth. His fingers were entirely red from where he had ripped the leech from his body. Terrified he started touching his body looking for the signs of other bloodsuckers. He winced as he pulled one off of his neck which sent blood dripping onto his coat. Those two seemed to be the only ones that had been on him.

"Why me? Why me?"

A noise answered him. However, it was not the noise of some extinct creature. Instead it was a noise that was far more recent in the history of the world. It was the sound of mud being splattered by a car. Except there was not the traditional roar of a car engine but instead a buzz. Prehistoric Park only had electric cars. Finally some luck! He picked up the package and started ambling towards the middle of the road. Just then he was glad that he had only ambled. If he had gone quicker the car would have hit him. The car shot past him spraying him with mud as it went. He swore angrily.

"What the hell's gotten into that guy?"

He started walking in the same direction of the car. Whatever the car was fleeing from he did not want to meet. Could it have been that creature from earlier? Just before he knew it he was being bathed in golden light. What the hell? The car had come back. The driver stopped and opened the door. Why the hell was a kid driving the car? He must have only been seventeen or something like that.

"Hey mister you need a ride?" the kid asked.

"Yeah. I've been through hell."

Eagerly George stumbled over to the car. He put the package in the back with two other kids who looked about fourteen before getting climbing into the front passenger's seat. He breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Kid you're a lifesaver."

 _Nyasasaur Pen_

The noise was something like a cassowary except that it was far larger. Far, far larger. Upon hearing the guttural roar the Nyasasaurs had fled deeper into their enclosure away from the brute nearby. Amelia knew instantly knew what had made that noise. Despite the darkness she could see that Vincent had gone very pale.

"What is it?" he whispered.

"An Acrocanthosaurus. Dinosaur from Cretaceous Texas, four and a half metres tall and eleven and a half metres long."

"Is it the theropod we were tracking?"

She nodded her head. At that moment Vincent seemed to go even paler. What was she going to do? She did not have the right permission to carry enough tranquiliser to knock out an Acrocanthosaurus. Admittedly she could make it drowsy enough that it would eventually fall asleep but there was a considerable amount of time between hitting the dinosaur and it falling asleep. Plenty of time for it to get at them. What to do?

"Can we tranq it?" Vincent asked wringing his hands in fear.

"We can but it will take some time going down. It's too dangerous."

"We should try anyway. It's a big animal so it might not like that large drop."

It was sort of a sound plan. Acrocanthosaurus normally avoided relatively steep drops which the side of the Nyasasaurus enclosure was. If they were wearing the correct climbing gear, and had their wits about them, the drop was fine for a human. However, the sheer size of an Acrocanthosaurus made it dangerous for such a large dinosaur. On top of that large animals generally did not like to put themselves in dangerous situations. Unlike the stupid, average internet daredevil large animals knew that if they went down it could be likely that they never get up again.

"It's our only hope. Let's do it."

They passed through the now broken fencing and started climbing up the muddy embankment. Amelia could clearly see the grooves left by the jeep as it crashed down earlier that night. Quite quickly the muscles in her calf started screaming through exhaustion; it was far easier going down the embankment than it was climbing up it. If it had not been for the odd clump of mud or the stray patch of grass then she doubted that she would have been able to climb up it without toppling over. Beside her Vincent was wheezing and his face had turned as red as a tomato. It seems that years of not playing rugby had taken its toll on him. Before they knew it they had reached the top of the embankment. The night air was cool and crisp with the chirrups and clicks of crickets and cicadas hanging on the air. Timidly she wrung her hands tightly over the rifle.

There was a low pitched hissing noise followed by a crash of stones. She looked at Vincent and he nodded. Despite the thickness of the mud they ran to where the crash had come from. Quickly they came across some wire-meshed fencing which had been torn open as if it was made of paper, (the crash itself had come from a post which had been torn down by the dinosaur). They passed through the fencing looking for the dinosaur; an easy task considering they only had to follow the new footprints and the wheezing noise. Acrocanthosaurus came from a time with much more oxygen than the Triassic area had. For the dinosaur it would be the same as a human suddenly going to the top of a mountain.

"Christ!" Vincent swore trying to keep his voice down. A Stenaulorhynchus had snapped its pig like jaws at Vincent as a territorial display. When the former rugby player backed off the rhynchosaur went back to snuffling through the undergrowth completely oblivious of the titanic intruder.

Up ahead there were several cries of distress from rhynchosaurs. It transpired that the Acrocanthosaurus was not interested in hunting the rhynchosaurs as it instead waded into the lake to start drinking. Quite loudly the Acrocanthosaurus started greedily lapping up the water. Both of them started creeping forward; not because there was the giant dinosaur nearby but rather thanks to the presence of the rhynchosaurs. A rhynchosaur could do serious damage to a human with their formidable jaws. The Acrocanthosaurus lifted its head to sniff the air. Amelia took the rifle off of safety and aimed. For the dinosaur to go down she had to avoid the hump. The hump was mostly fatty tissue so it would be able to feel the dart but, it would not send it to sleep. The crossfire was aimed at the dinosaur's neck. She pulled the trigger.

A thin line shot from the rifle and a blue flower embedded itself into the neck of the dinosaur. It gave a rumble of pain causing it to angrily wade out of the lake sending several rhynchosaurs fleeing into the distance. Amelia grabbed Vincent and started running. They had the advantage of the Acrocanthosaurus being in an environment with lower oxygen content so it could not run as effectively but at the same time it could easily outpace them. Luckily for them the Acrocanthosaurus took some time to realise where the dart in its neck had come from. Seeing the two humans run it hissed and ran after them. They passed through the gap in the fence. Soon after the dinosaur followed suit. As Amelia had lost hope of reaching the Nyasasaur embankment there was a horrendous crash behind them. The Acrocanthosaurus had given up the chase to instead fall asleep. She looked at Vincent and they both burst out into hysterical laughter.

"My God, this is what you get up to?" he yelled through his laughs of relief.

The mixture of low oxygen and exertion had helped the tranquiliser act quicker than expected. She could smell the horrific breath of the Acrocanthosaurus; it must have eaten recently. At that moment she saw blood on its lips.


	12. Mission 6- Return of the King

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and a palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **This mission takes them back 66 million years to rescue the most famous dinosaur of all time from the apocalypse a things turn stormy back the park when a heatwave comes to an end.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 6- Return of the King**

 **Phase One of Prehistoric Park is coming to a close. After five successful missions the park now is home to a herd of giant Columbian mammoths, several salamander like Hynerpeton and a pair of titanic Titanis. However, Phil and Hiroshi have a very famous resident that they want to have rescued for the final of Phase One.**

Amelia sat with her arms crossed in a mixture of anxiety and frustration. Prehistoric Park's expansion was split into phases; every six missions a phase ended and Shinchoku Co. would evaluate if the park was running correctly before the next mission. This next mission would end Phase One. Apparently Phil and Hiroshi had been conspiring about what the next mission should entail which in turn led to her frustration and anxiety. The frustration came from being out of the loop while the anxiety came from her doubts about whether Prehistoric Park could actually handle rescuing the particular animal in question. Yes Prehistoric Park had the technology to, somewhat, replicate its environment but she was more worried about containing and feeding it. She knew this was an eventuality but she did not think it would come this soon.

"Prehistoric Park has seen great success so far," Hiroshi said more to the camera than to the time travellers sitting before him. She could see that he was sweating profusely; this heatwave had everyone doing the same. "But we have yet to truly push the boundaries of zoology. That is why I feel a trip to the Cretaceous is in order."

 **The Cretaceous period was the last period in the Mesozoic. The air had thirty percent more oxygen than today's atmosphere, the first flowering plants had arrived and the dinosaurs reached their largest sizes.**

"I want you to rescue the T rex," Hiroshi said.

She had known it was coming but it was still hard to grasp. Going back in time to rescue a real life Tyrannosaurus; the Tyrant Lizard King and the most famous dinosaur of all time. Jean and Mike beside her had turned very pale at that moment. Phil, on the other hand, was positively beaming. He was going to be the first palaeontologist to see a living, breathing creature which had inspired so many to take up his profession, and he had the ability to either prove or disprove the countless theories about the dinosaur once and for all. Were they primarily scavengers? How fast were they? Were they ambush hunters? Did they care for their young? Alfred Steiner had been cursing his various illnesses which had prevented him from going for the last few days; he had practically turned green with envy.

"The Tyrannosaurus vanished around sixty-six, not sixty-five, million years ago. We're going to Hell Creek where most of the fossils of T rex have been found. Also, we're going just a few days before the asteroid hit the planet," Phil explained much to the delight of Hiroshi.

 **T rex lived at the end of the Cretaceous at a time called the Maastrichtian in what is now Montana. The realm of the T rex was very different from today's Montana with it being lodged in between the forming Rocky Mountains and a vast inland sea. That is until an asteroid hit the Earth around 66 million years ago. The time travellers today are going to go back as close to the time when the asteroid hit as possible.**

Amelia sat behind the wheel of the jeep. Everybody was furiously sweating; half thanks to the heatwave and half thanks to what was in store for them. Due to nature of the mission Bob had even allowed them to bring back more than five unanticipated animals, just in case. In what seemed to be an eternity the ethereal blue shape of the portal opened up in front of them. Not wanting to delay any further Amelia drove forward and soon the sight changed before her. The holding pens had been instantly replaced with an entirely new, prehistoric world. The world of the Cretaceous. The world of the T rex. They had come out onto a cliff face looking down upon an open plain. All around, as far as the eye could see, were conifers and monkey-puzzle trees mixing with ferns half the height of a human. Walking along the plain below them was a herd of hadrosaurs. Amelia had never imagined that they would be so big! Each one had a similar colour scheme: green with darker green spots going towards the head with a short ridge running from the base of the head to the tip of the tail, (where it got so short it could hardly be seen). However, the larger ones around the edges had a brightly coloured head sporting colours of red, blue and orange.

"More like Eden than Hell," Jean commented awestruck.

"My God." Phil opened the door and leaned out staring at the hadrosaurs intently. "I owe Alfred an apology. He has been arguing that Edmontosaurus annectens is actually a separate genus called Anatosaurus. He's right."

"How can you tell?" Amelia asked getting out and sitting on the car's hood.

"Look at the heads of the brightly coloured ones. Going by the assumption that they are male if they were Edmontosaurus they should have a fleshy comb on their head. Looking at the shape of the head as well it's too different to be an Edmontosaurus so that means Edmontosaurus annectens is really Anatosaurus annectens!"

Phil was bursting with excitement. He was quickly talking through his headset to tell Graham back at the park to inform Alfred Steiner about this new discovery. She beamed. This was amazing. To make it even better in the distance she could see the shape of a giant pterosaur flying away. After a quick photo, (likely to become the background for all her electrical appliances), she offered Phil the opportunity to go down and see the hadrosaurs up close. Even Jean and Mike had forgotten their fear of the unseen king and were eager to go down. Amelia had an ulterior purpose though; Tyrannosaurus hunted hadrosaurs so if they stayed by the food they should find the predator. The jeep trundled over the prehistoric earth as Amelia tried to find a place to get down to the hadrosaur herd.

The jeep passed through a fern thicket and she quickly braked. They had left the Garden of Eden to instead arrive in Hell itself. A clearing was before them devoid of all life. Thick steam bellowed from cracks in the ground and enormous, noxious gas bubbles erupted from the pools of steaming water dotted about. Sulfur hung on the air like a perfume. Scattered about the noxious clearing were corpses of various animals and in various states of decomposition. Nearby the corpse of a possum like mammal lay as if it had died just the day before whereas further up a young heavily armoured dinosaur which now only consisted of the hard armour and some pieces of flesh stuck to white bone. It was a dying land.

"Increased volcanic activity has decimated populations here," Phil said solemnly. "It chokes the plants, the herbivores have less to eat, they die out and then the carnivores do, these volcanic pockets pop up and even the fumes reduce the thickness of dinosaur eggs so they can't form properly. Very sad."

 **The Cretaceous period is known for volcanic activity; in China it has produced the best preserved dinosaur fossils. Volcanic activity started to reduce the numbers of the dinosaurs but they could have recovered if not for the asteroid.**

Phil was hopeful about this area. There was a particular animal that he wanted to see which lived at Hell Creek; maybe they could rescue one or two for the park. Likely pack hunters they also were likely scavengers so hopefully this area may attract… Mike's whimpering cut off his trail of thought. Was seeing this field that bad? He had assumed that since the mission to La Brea it would have desensitised him to scenes like this. Jean seemed to be shaking all over and Amelia seemed to have frozen. What were they… He too then froze; half in awe, half in fear. A mostly bald red snout had parted the canopy of the trees. The rest of the head followed covered in black feathers. The skull looked to be about the same size as a human. Just then the beast completely parted the foliage cover revealing a body covered in black and white striped filament feathers. Except for the stomach, legs and the bottom of the tail which were covered in grey-green scales. The dinosaur lifted its head into the air and sniffed three times.

It was a real life Tyrannosaurus.

The dinosaur which inspired him to become a palaeontologist was standing right in front of him now. All his dreams had seemed to have simultaneously come true. It looked over the volcanic area in front of them and within two giant steps was standing in the middle of it.

"Tyrannosaurus was very adaptable. This one is taking advantage of the easy meals," Phil whispered.

The Tyrannosaur sniffed around the corpses for a good meal. It stopped over the relatively fresh carcass of a baby Anatosaurus. As it moved its head towards the prospective meal Phil noticed the Tyrannosaurus wobble. Quickly it lifted its head back up and started breathing heavily. It put its jaws close to the carcass again before wobbling again. The Tyrannosaurus gave a rumble.

"It seems that even the largest of predators can be knocked down by those gases," Jean commented.

The Tyrannosaurus gave up on the free meal and proceeded to walk back through the brush out of sight. A collective sigh of relief was released in the jeep. They had been so close to an actual Tyrannosaurus!

 **Meanwhile back at Prehistoric Park, Head Vet Suzanne has gone into the aquarium to find out if some odd behaviour from a resident has anything to do with the sweltering heat.**

It was mercifully cool in the aquarium. With the heatwave raging outside the coolness of Prehistoric Park's aquarium offered welcome relief for those eager to get out of the sweltering heat. Bob had told her in the last few days there had been a surge of volunteers to work shifts in either the aquarium or the Carboniferous Dome. In this heat it was understandable. Even the animals had been finding it difficult: the Stenaulorhynchus were busy scrapping over the bodies of water in their exhibit, Cheshire the cheetah had been perpetually sleeping on a tree branch for the last few days, the ground sloths had hardly left their burrows and had to use a hosepipe to create mud for the mammoths to cool themselves down with. Now it seems there was something wrong with the Hynerpeton.

One of the keepers who normally worked with the Diademodon, (covering for a friend who got struck down with heatstroke), reported that one of the Hynerpeton had started foaming of all things. She had to see this for herself. Quite quickly she was passed the young Hyneria tank, (the resident happily swimming through the fallen logs in her tank using her lobed fins), and soon she was in the Hynerpeton enclosure.

 **Prehistoric Park's Hynerpeton come from the Devonian 360 million years ago where they were suffering thanks to rising global temperatures.**

The keeper who had reported the incident was still in the enclosure looking forlornly at one of the male Hynerpeton. That particular male was larger than the other and had apparently managed to steal the keeper's brush which was now being used as a sun lounge.

"Look when I do this it foams," the keeper said lifting up the far end of the brush. As the brush wobbled about under the Hynerpeton it started to 'foam'. Saying that it was foam was a big exaggeration. All that happened was some pores on its pebbly tail started releasing a mild trickle of liquid which bubbled slightly. "Have I poisoned it?"

"Don't worry this is natural for amphibians," Suzanne giggled placing a reassuring hand on the keeper's shoulder. "Frogs and salamanders have toxin glands to deter predators. Hynerpeton must have the same defence mechanism."

The keeper gave a sigh of relief. It was very apparent that the keeper had never worked with amphibians before. "Just wash your brush afterwards. Rough-skinned newt toxins have been known to kill if ingested…" The keeper practically jumped a foot away from the toxin-emitting amphibian causing Suzanne to smile.

 **With the foaming Hynerpeton mystery solved back in Cretaceous Hell Creek Amelia has decided to take a more direct approach in hunting down the T rex.**

They had returned to the cliff in order to set up camp, and leave the jeep. This was much to the dismay of Mike who seemed to believe that they were far safer in the car. If they were after a big cat she would agree with them, however, the car was perfect biting size for a Tyrannosaurus. Instead they were now trekking through a lush Cretaceous forest on foot. Amelia found it rather thrilling, as if they were in an adventure novel. This particular forest had the trees far apart from one another which had two bonuses in her opinion.

"T rex was an ambush hunter so they would stick to forests," Amelia explained for the camera upon her head. "The trees here are a bit far apart which allows a T rex to safely wait in ambush but T rex did not run in forests. The sheer size of Tyrannosaurus means that it could not comfortably run in a forest."

She hoped that was the case anyway. Between the trees were clumps of bright ferns which grew up to her waist. The forest was so strange to her: ferns instead of grass, bird like shrieks ricochet off of the trees instead of mammalian cries and above average sized dragonflies buzzed in the air. This truly was a primeval world. They had yet to see a large animal, (so far only a small possum like creature which darted away quickly), which was understandable. People often assumed as soon as you went out into the wild you tripped over animals with every footstep. Most of the time safaris involved a game of hide and seek. Just like on the plains of the Masai Mara of 2016 you had to go out to look for animals in Hell Creek.

She saw something moving in front of them. As she gestured for the others to stop someone stepped on a twig. It made the unseen creature look up from the ferns that it had been obsessing with. Remarkably the dinosaur looked like an ostrich. It highly resembled an ostrich, (even having similar feathers), except for some details. For one, it had a tail, the wings were not tucked into the body, the beak was rectangular in shape, it had a feathery neck, and it had orange feathers with black patches. Just like a modern day bird it bobbed its head back and forth. Why wouldn't it if birds are dinosaurs?

"An ornithomimid," Phil whispered walking around the dinosaur. "It's just shorter than a human so it has to be Struthiomimus. I think you can gather what their name means."

"Ostrich mimic," Amelia replied smiling as the ostrich dinosaur stared intently at these strange newcomers. Phil got closer and started taking off his shoe for some reason.

"Just like ostriches these guys run to defend themselves, we estimate about eighty kilometres an hour. I think this guy is a sentry; they've known to flock." He whistled and suddenly several other ostrich like heads looked up from the ferns before quickly returning below the ferns. They looked quite cute. "I would love one or two at Prehistoric Park."

 **Like all other animals currently living at Hell Creek the Struthiomimus will go extinct when the asteroid arrives soon. Every animal they see does not have much time left.**

"Ostriches go calm if they have a sock over their head. If I put mine over it we might be able to get it to the park," Phil explained slowly walking towards the Struthiomimus.

 _Why does this man have a death wish?_ "If they're so much like an ostrich then they also kick to defend themselves. A kick which could disembowel you." Phil's face dropped at this revelation. "There's a clearing up ahead. Jean can get the drone up and from there we can see a way to rescue a few via the air."

Phil seemed to perk up with this plan as he put his shoe back on. They headed towards the clearing but what was in the clearing was something they were not expecting. It was big. Very big. It must be about nine metres in length. It had three horns, a curved frill with juts on the end, a beak and what looked like short quills running down the hindquarters of the animal. For the size of the animal it was surprisingly colourful having a dark brown-green colour for the body with amber spots, a white underbelly, a red head, and a yellow frill. She couldn't believe what she was a seeing.

Triceratops.

"An actual Triceratops. My favourite non-dromaeosaurid dinosaur," Phil said in awe. She was so awestruck herself that she almost forgot to pull Phil back from trying to get too close. It looked like it was an old male which normally meant a cranky animal. "Just look at his beak; it's gripping the leaves and pulling them off. Unlike hadrosaurs like Anatosaurus he can't chew so he has to use his back teeth to sheathe plant matter. We used to think it sheared plants with the beak."

Maybe they could bring back a Triceratops as well? Thankfully the new aerial drone could help them form a plan to rescue the Triceratops. Jean started piloting the drone, (which caused the Triceratops to give a rumble of annoyance at the whirring noise), over the nearby forest. Eagerly they looked at the tiny screen in his hands showing an aerial view of the Cretaceous forest. Amelia smiled; they could see many Struthiomimus searching for lizards and fruits on the forest floor as tiny grey blobs. The way this part of the forest was set out if the Struthiomimus could either go forward to the clearing or back to the volcanic plane; to the west there was a ridge whereas in the east the forest was thicker which stopped the Struthiomimus from running effectively. Her plan was simple: scare the Struthiomimus sentries with the klaxon in her pocket which will make them run to the clearing where the portal was waiting and hopefully a stampeding flock would convince the trike to follow suit.

"Phil and I will get behind the flock and scare them to the portal. You guys make sure to open the portal. Happy?" She smiled which made Mike's insides turn inside out. He watched the tracker and palaeontologist walk off into the forest. Amelia was speaking through her headset. "Graham we've got some things coming through soon. A flock of Struthiomimus and an old Triceratops."

 **What the team does not realise is that something both big and hungry is also looking for a way to catch the Struthiomimus.**

Jean looked avidly at the video in his hands. He could see that Phil and Amelia had reached the back of the flock. Behind him the Triceratops made a snuffling noise which made him smile. Triceratops was his favourite dinosaur. If Amelia hadn't warned him not to go near it he probably would have tried to pet it. It might not see him as a threat: it had never seen humans before and it was so much bigger than he was. Just as he was going to land the drone something appeared on screen. Something big. It was a Tyrannosaurus!

"Amelia! Phil! There's a rex behind you!" he frantically cried through his headset.

At the opposite side of the flock Amelia's eyes widened. Phil had gone pale. She looked behind her to see a large red head sniffing the air. There was no option but to run. Both her and Phil through caution to the wind and started running as fast as they could through the cycads. A distressed Struthiomimus sentry made a quorking noise before running in the same direction as them. Blurred heads of ornithomimids flashed passed them as they tried to frantically escape the heavy footsteps behind them. There was some hope though. The rex was following so maybe they could rescue three dinosaur species at once. She could see a bright light. The clearing! The portal was mercifully already open and she saw a few ornithomimids vanished through. Mike and Jean, meanwhile, were still waiting for them. The giant Triceratops made a startled rumble and proceeded to run through the portal. Behind them she heard a very low pitched hiss. Not wanting to waste any more time Amelia shouted for the time travellers to run through the portal. Shortly after the coolness of the portal washed over her only to be replaced immediately by the blistering heat of the Nga Rara islands.

"Get them out of there!" she heard Morarji yell.

A secret opening to her left opened up and she felt hands pulling her through. Bob was frantically panting as Jean, Mike and Phil were pulled through as well. Dust whirled around the holding areas like it had been thrown up by the frightened footsteps of the Struthiomimus. They climbed the metallic stairway to look down at the new arrivals. The lone trike was giving irate rumbles as Suzanne tried to look it over, (all the while giving ecstatic cries of _'It's a Triceratops!'_ ). Meanwhile, three holding pens had been filled with the writhing bodies of the Struthiomimus. After ten minutes the portal vanished. Prehistoric Park still lacked a T rex.

"They may not be a Tyrannosaurus but they are still beautiful!" Hiroshi happily cried upon seeing the animals. "Especially the Triceratops."

Today the time travellers decided to watch the animals being sent to their enclosure. The doors to the transport truck opened with a mechanical buzz and suddenly there was a rumbling sound. Prehistoric Park's first Triceratops, named Charles, bounded out of the truck so he could survey his new domain. Upon seeing the creek he eagerly went and splashed in it. It generated a round of laughs from the group when he started causing bubbles to froth around him. Two hours ago the Struthiomimus were given an enclosure to themselves, after being treated by the vets, and had settled down. Eighteen animals had been rescued from extinction from Hell Creek. The thought made Amelia smile.

 **Now that the new residents have settled in the team are travelling back 66 million years to rescue the Tyrannosaurus. This time they are not returning until they bring back the King of the Dinosaurs.**

Dusk had engulfed the land. An amber sun was now casting deep purple light over the land in a sight oddly soothing. Down below the Anatosaurs were bathing in the waters of the floodplain as short furry bipedal dinosaurs which Phil identified as a 'Thescy thing' were darting through the legs of the ones that weren't bathing. She smiled. They were using the larger dinosaurs as protection. There was even Triceratops down there. Unlike Charles at the park these ones were in small herds of around five individuals; each mini-herd seemed to have one adult male.

"That's amazing. Triceratops must live a bit like white rhinos. Female white rhinos live in small herds and the trikes seem to be doing the same thing. Except there's also a male with a harem."

"Lucky guy," Mike laughed.

Jean looked at the sky with an intense look of worry on his face. She looked up and felt her heart jump up into her throat. Thin white lines were streaking across the sky like concords. It was a beautiful harbinger of death.

 **Small asteroids burning up in the atmosphere indicates the coming of the big one which will devastate the land. However, if the team think they can have calm until the next day they are seriously wrong…**

There was something outside. Phil sat up waking Mike with him. Could it be the alvarezsaurid he saw earlier? He had been absentmindedly shining the torch and caught the eye shine of the small, mysterious dinosaur. Unfortunately it had not come close enough for him to properly see it. There was a crash as something metal had fallen over. Suddenly he could hear ripping fabric. Grabbing his camera he ran out of the tent yelling. Whatever had been on the other tent darted a few feet back. After forcing the camera on his head he tried to shine his torch. It was so dark he could only see where the beam of light shone. He could hear perfectly well though, a sound like _kak-kyuk-kuk_. It was low pitched, guttural and unnerving. The light hit the head of the creature revealing a speckled head which instantly recognised. He had been studying it and its cousins for his entire career.

"Finally the Dakotaraptor!" He was almost crying with happiness. An actual dromaeosaurid in the flesh. "Only discovered last year, I didn't know they were found this far north."

There was a growl. He turned to see another behind him. "That answers one question: Dakotaraptor at least were not solitary." What should he talk about next? He tried to shine a light on the signature curved toe but they were too nimble for him to do so. "Their fossils were found with feathers proving conclusively that they were…"

There was a hiss to the other side making Mike whimper. There was a third. Frantically he shook his torch and found a fourth arching its back so it was low to the ground. _They've surrounded us._ Amelia and Jean emerged from their tent looking terrified. They had awoken from a pleasant dream to be dropped in the middle of a horror movie. The raptors were closing in. He started sweating profusely, his heart had practically stopped and he felt like fainting. He had never wanted to come this close to a Dakotaraptor. Crap there was a fifth now!

"We'll have to set up the portal," Amelia whimpered. "I can't get to my klaxon."

They were getting closer. Jean mumbled through the headset that they would either be sending raptors through or would never be coming home at all. Carefully they each placed their portal sticks in the earth. What seemed to be the alpha took a step forward.

"NOW!" Amelia yelled.

As the raptors jumped forward the portals simultaneously activated. Instead of forming four separate swirling portals each stick seemed to connect to one another forming one large cylindrical portal with them in the centre. Beyond the ethereal shape roaring around them black shapes shimmered and wobbled. It was strange; she could see the Cretaceous and the holding pens merging together.

"Graham how many are through?" Phil asked through his headset.

"Five. Christ Phil I thought you said raptors were tiny. They must be six foot tall!"

Thankful he leant down and pressed the top of a stick causing the portal to vanish. All the time travellers looked at each other and collapsed in relief.

 **Back at Prehistoric Park, Bob has to deal with the repercussions of an intense heatwave.**

Now that the sun was setting it brought the mercifully cooler night. Unfortunately it was still boiling warm. It was if the intense heat had evaporated all of the humidity which prevented any chance of them cooling down. He pitied the raptors which had just come through the portal, (still being checked over by the vets). The heat was what brought him into the mammoth enclosure. Creating mud was not nearly enough to cool them down.

"Normally elephants throw mud over themselves to cool down," he explained to the camera crew balanced on the water truck. He gestured with the hosepipe. "That's why I need to use this for assistance."

He pulled back the lever and icy cold water shot from the pipe. Immediately the baby male mammoth ran to the cold stream, all the while giving happy toots of his trunk. Saqui the matriarch observed Bob tentatively. A pang of sadness hit him. She still did not fully trust humans. Meanwhile, the rest of the herd was content in being soaked with the refreshing water. It took some time before Saqui felt like she could join the rest of the herd.

"One day Saqui you'll feel safe here."

 **Back in Hell Creek, the team are desperate to find a Tyrannosaurus because today is the day that the asteroid makes impact.**

"After last night's foray we're making an early start," Amelia said angling the camera to her face. Just ten years ago she would never have dared to do that; days unwashed observing wild hyenas remarkably ends self-conscious fears of your looks. "T rex hunted Anatosaurus, Triceratops and Thescelosaurus so we might be able to wait for a hunt."

Mike opened the portal and sent the jeep through. If they were too late and the asteroid came she did not fancy the prospect of searching for it post-impact; all she hoped that he had remembered to check the trunk. She could have sworn she heard something in there earlier. Just as Mike came back through she saw them. Several Tyrannosaurs were walking around the forest by the floodplain. Curious, some had green heads instead of red. Were they pack animals?

"T rex's younger cousin the Daspletosaurus formed packs to hunt. Although when the kill was made it was every dino for himself."

Phil's observation seemed to be right. "Lions, hyenas and hunting dogs have an organised pattern while hunting. This is a mob; look that one snapped at another!"

 **That Tyrannosaurus had a lucky escape. Adult Tyrannosaurs had a bite force up to 57,000 Newtons, or ten times stronger than an alligator's bite.**

Suddenly the hunt started. The smaller ones burst from the brush and into the herd. As this was happening the trikes formed a defensive circle with their formidable horns pointed outwards to prevent an attack. The Tyrannosaurs ignored the trikes in favour of the hadrosaurs. Air sacs on the nose of the Anatosaurs inflated making a bellowing distress noise. The smaller Tyrannosaurs darted in and out of the herd until they managed to encircle an elderly female in a pincer movement. Frantically she gave cries of distress but they went unheeded. Then the large ones entered the fray. One particularly large one grasped the neck of the hadrosaur by the neck. Giant fangs sunk into the neck causing a cascade of blood to pour from the wound. It gave a feeble cry. The large rex bit further down causing more blood to spill out of the neck. The cries became silent.

"Interesting behaviour," Amelia commented watching as the larger Tyrannosaurs proceeded to rip apart the Anatosaurus. "The smaller, quicker ones isolate a prospective kill and the larger, bulkier ones make the kill. And then…"

"The big bastards take all the food," Mike finished. Although she wouldn't have put it as crudely he was right. The more robust ones were happily gulping down large chunks of Anatosaur as the gracile ones looked on hungrily.

She thought it would be best to make their way down. They managed to reach the kill site surprisingly quickly, not to mention how close to it they got. The smell of flesh hung on the air like mist. A young red headed Tyrannosaur was looking so avidly at the feast that it completely ignored the humans close by. Using this opportunity Amelia firmly forced the portal sticks into the ground until she could think of a plan. That is until she saw a stone leave Mike's hand to only land on the scaly leg of the Tyrannosaur. It looked at them and gave a rumble which sounded like a cassowary if it was on steroids. Like lightning she informed Prehistoric Park HQ about the new arrival and opened the portal. She breathed a sigh when the portal closed…and proceeded to strangle Mike.

"Why did you throw a stone at a fricking T REX?!"

"Amelia, strangle him later," Phil said trying to prise her hands from Mike's collar. "We don't want to confuse Robert Bakker in sixty-six million years when he finds a human skeleton in Hell Creek."

Something curious then happened. The Tyrannosaurus that took down the Anatosaurus tore a huge chunk of meat and started to walk off with it. How strange. Her anger quickly dissipated to be superseded instead by curiosity. Where was it taking the meat? It was a unanimous decision to follow the creature. It seemed to be oblivious of all of its surroundings. Trees, bushes, cycads and bushes all were parted in the wake of the giant animal as smaller beasts were scared out of their hiding place by the giant's footsteps. A young oviraptorosaur darted from within one cycad which the Tyrannosaur barged through. After a long trek, (or a short one for a Tyrannosaurus), they reached the destination. A green headed Tyrannosaur was in a clump of trees dropping branches in a circle. The red headed one dropped the meat which the green headed one greedily tore apart. The two started almost affectionately rubbing their heads together.

"Who would have thought this was behaviour for Tyrannosaurs? They're an affectionate mated pair," Amelia whispered in amazement. The red headed one, (seemingly the male), was making some soft noises almost like purrs which the female reciprocated.

"They're building a nest," Phil said excitedly. "If we rescue…"

Suddenly a raging fire roared across the sky sounding like every engine in existence revving at once. Amelia covered her ears but it was futile; it was so loud that she might as well not have covered her ears. The Tyrannosaurs gave distressed wails of fear and anguish. A huge fireball thundered over the sky sending chunks of rocks shooting from its fiery wake. It disappeared over the mountainside only to be replaced by a huge explosion so loud it the ground itself shook. Judgement day had arrived.

 **A meteorite nearly 500 kilometres across has just smashed into the Yucatan Peninsula. With a force a billion times that of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki it will release a series of earthquakes, megatsunamis and a nuclear holocaust which will wipe out the dinosaurs.**

She could see other streaks heading towards the Earth. Shit its gravity was pulling more to the planet. Ash started raining down upon the ground as a huge column of smoke rose up in the distance. That was in Mexico and she could see the cloud in Montana! Shit! The female rex panicked and smashed her foot down on the edge of the next sending splinters flying into the air. Quickly Amelia placed the portal sticks into the ground and opened it. The Tyrannosaurs wanting to escape Hell on Earth ran through. Then she noticed the cloud; it was coming this way.

"That herd! We can save that herd from that!" she pointed to the raging cloud coming towards them. The others started running back to where the herds were. It truly was the apocalypse. Their hair had turned white with ash and all around the world seemed to be scorching. They all screamed as a huge pterosaur plummeted out of the air. When they reached the floodplain all was in chaos. All Hell had broken loose as animals fled everywhere from the upcoming apocalypse. Somehow they managed to reach the water's edge and force the portal sticks into the ground. She could hardly see through the thick ash. A horrific black cloud was now raging closer and closer to them. A tree was uprooted and flew a mile before crashing down into the earth with a sickening crunch.

"Hopefully they'll follow!" Phil yelled. Not wanting to get caught in the raging cloud they ran through the portal. Already Bob had the Tyrannosaurs into holding pens.

"Look out!" he yelled.

An Anatosaur came barging through the portal screaming in horror. Before the keepers knew what had happened it had smashed through the gate leaving nothing between the portal and the rest of Prehistoric Park. As the time travellers managed to get up a walkway several more Anatosaurus came through with some Thescelosaurus running under their feet. Suddenly a three horned head emerged through the portal. Another followed. And another. A herd of Triceratops had come through the portal as furious ash tried to follow. Then a few more Thescelosaurus and two more Anatosaurus. Suddenly the new arrivals stopped. Amelia had a sickening feeling about what had happened.

"What am I going to do with them?" Bob laughed shaking his head. The last minute rescue mission had allowed several Anatosaurus, Triceratops and Thescelosaurus free reign of the park. Bob mumbled something about being able to easily round them up. Meanwhile, all attention was focused on the Tyrannosaurs. The couple, (named Leonidas and Sue), were busy rubbing each other's noses as the young male, (now named Diocletian), in the adjacent holding pen was swallowing hole large chunks of meat.

"Turns out you brought something else back in your jeep!" Morarji yelled at them holding up a pet carrier. Inside, (covered in head to tail with grey and white feathers), was an alvarezsaurid which was waving about its stubby little arm.

"Mike. Come here. I just want to talk."

Mike instead ran off with a look on his face that he would rather handfeed Diocletian. Somewhere in the distance Phil and Alfred were debating about Edmontosaurus and Anatosaurus but she didn't care at the moment; she had to have a word with Mike. Suddenly there was a rumble of thunder. On the horizon black thunderclouds were building up. The heatwave had given way to a storm.

 **It looks like Prehistoric Park has trouble ahead…**

 **Rescued this chapter:**

3 Tyrannosaurus rex 2 male, 1 female

8 Triceratops prorsus 2 male, 6 female

8 Thescelosaurus garbanii 4 male, 4 female

5 Dakotaraptor steini 2 male, 3 female

10 Anatosaurus/Edmontosaurus annectens 4 male, 6 female

16 Struthiomimus sedens 7 male, 9 female

1 Hell Creek alvaerzsaurid (species unknown) unknown sex

 **Seen but not rescued:**

Alphadon (unknown species)

Denversaurus schlessmani

Anzu wyliei

Unknown azhdarchid

 **Trivia and Notes:**

 **1\. Saurian inspired the design of the Anatosaurus Saurian convinced me that Anatosaurus was separate to Edmontosaurus.**

 **2\. Initially Acheroraptor was supposed to be seen at night and stowaway but the presence of Dakotaraptor made me swap it for the unknown alvarezsaurid found at Hell Creek. Also, I wanted to rescue an animal not officially named by science, (the alvarezsaurid has not been named yet).**

 **3\. Ankylosaurus and Pachycephalosaurus were meant to appear but not be rescued. The reason why Pachycephalosaurus mainly did not appear was because I happen to disagree with some of the community on here about this dinosaur as I believe Dracorex was a young Pachycephalosaurus.** **Didelphodon was also meant to appear as well as a scene at the Western Interior Seaway. Also there was going to be a debate about whether the Anatosaurus is Edmontosaurus or not. This chapter started to get too long so I cut all of these things.**

 **5\. There was going to be a scene where the time travellers see a plane indicating they return to Hell Creek but I scrapped it. I felt it ruined the suspense later on.**

 **6\. The Anatosaurus/Edmontosaurus nose flaps was inspired by a paper that I read, there's not actual fossil evidence for it but I liked this theory.**

 **7\. I'm a big fan of Lord of the Rings which inspired this title.**

 **Okay notes. Next chapter will not be One Long Day but instead The Storm of 2016, (it will only be slightly similar to One Long Day), and after that mission seven will happen. Next chapter I will expand on the Thescelosaurus and the alvarezsaurid because I had to cut it from this one. Also, I'll go into the debate more on Anatosaurus. A lot had to be cut from this chapter or otherwise it would be far too long.**


	13. The Storm of 2016

**The Storm of 2016**

 _Amelia_

The nearby camera crew had been putting away their equipment as the first heavy droplets fell. Above them the stormy sky lit up with a bright flash to be immediately followed by a roaring clap of thunder. In their holding pens the Tyrannosaurs gave low pitched bellows in response to the claps of thunder; apparently even the largest of carnivores were minute compared to the fury of nature itself. This was going to be a nightmare. Morarji and Bob would have to move three Tyrannosaurs into their enclosure, somehow wrangle up a herd of Triceratops, Anatosaurus and Thescelosaurus as a thunderous storm raged all around them. The roads would be precarious in this weather and there was a chance that other problems could arise. During the last storm, (not nearly as large as this one), the security system had shut off thanks to a stray lightning bolt so it was a sure thing that that would be repeated this time.

"I'm telling you Alfred it is too early to conclude that they are separate genus. We'll have to have rescued and do mitochondrial DNA comparisons before we can make that conclusion!"

She rolled her eyes. The night they had rescued the Dakotaraptor Phil had renegaded his position on the Anatosaurus being a separate genus to Edmontosaurus, something which greatly angered Alfred. A cold went down her spine at that moment. What if the Dakotaraptor escaped? She shook her head. It was an outlandish idea. For one, it was the middle of the day and reports seemed to confirm that Dakotaraptor was nocturnal. Not to mention the raptors were not intelligent enough to work out how to escape this quickly; Phil had told her that the intelligence of raptors were in between that of an opossum and a cat, (with it being closer to that of a cat). They had only been at Prehistoric Park for a day and even then they had slept most of the time they had been here.

One of the holding pens was opening to allow the young male Tyrannosaur, Diocletian, entry into a transport truck. From the look of it Diocletian would be moved to the holding pens at the vets to be given a look over before being moved to his new home which she would rather like to see. Then again, the now torrential rain was a big disadvantage. Already half soaked through to her very bones decided to head back home. With the warmth of the Cretaceous and the only expected showers being ones from the stars she had left her coat back at home. For Christ's sake she had left her jeep at her office as well! Frustrated at her own short-sightedness she hurried off of the holding pen walkway and started heading towards the Perimeter Fence and Park Hub. With just a few minutes of rain the sand around the holding pens had turned a dark colour as it greedily drank the rainwater.

"Amelia! I would like a word!" a voice yelled. "I can give you a lift." It was Hiroshi Komon, (holding his jacket over his head to avoid the rain). Unlike the rest of the staff who had company cars, (jeeps to be precise), Hiroshi drove his own flashy Nissan LEAF. Eager to get of the rain she accepted his offer. "I am glad that we can have this chat. Put the heating on or otherwise we'll catch our deaths of cold."

She did this and instantly a wave of warm air rushed over her. It was a relief.

"You and Phil have done an excellent job so far. Phase One has been a resounding success." The only sound the car made was the wiping of the windshield wipers and the roar of the heater. "We have representatives from most of the major classes of animals, mammoths, giant bugs and even the most famous dinosaurs. Raptors, Triceratops and T rex. I've heard that the female is pregnant."

"We've assumed so because she was making a nest; we have to wait until Jesse or Suzanne to confirm it. It's a bit too early to say that Phase One is a success. For one, most of the animals we rescued today aren't even in enclosures…"

"Just trifles that Morarji and Bob will soon rectify." That made her worried. Being an eccentric billionaire must have made Hiroshi oblivious to how Prehistoric Park wasn't running as smoothly as he imagined it. Graham had to deal with a huge server which grew larger every passing mission, Bob and the park's architect had to ensure that several enclosures were ready for each mission, her notes on the behaviour of the animals had to be redone every so often as their behaviour changed when they settled in to their new surroundings, and not to mention the issues with the animals themselves. Saqui the mammoth was still temperamental around male keepers, one large Stenaulorhynchus was overly territorial, the Diademodon had managed to burrow out of his enclosure twice, and now the Hynerpeton turned out to be toxic. Now with seven new species there would be a bunch of issues just with them. For Christ's sake the alvarezsaur hasn't even been given a name yet by science and they could not decide if the hadrosaurs were even an Edmontosaurus or not! Hiroshi seemed to read her mind.

"Amelia I am fully aware that what we are doing here is the most ambitious thing in the history of zoology. They may seem big now but they are trifles; I face the same thing when organising the first Martian colonies." That struck her. Organising humanity's first steps into space was far more challenging than what Prehistoric Park was doing. In fact once the time portal had been developed and found to work that was by far the hardest thing out of the way. A few server issues and unexpected behaviours of animals seemed trivial compared to the creation of an actual time portal.

"Now Amelia. I am eager to hear what Phase Two has in offer."

"We haven't decided yet. Darwinius seems to be the likeliest option so far, but it really depends on if Igor manages to do anything new with the time portal. So far we have no way to transport flying or ocean dwelling animals but if Igor finds a way we might do a mission. We were thinking of starting the breeding program during Phase Two but we thought it would be better to push it back to Phase Thr…"

The car jolted to a halt. Through the thickness of the mist and the horrendous rain Amelia could see a hadrosaur in the middle of the road with a Thescelosaurus standing by its feet. The hadrosaur looked at them and inflated the red air sacs on its nose creating a sound like that of a brass instrument. Timidly the Thescelosaurus looked around for danger but upon seeing nothing that it would recognise as being dangerous went back to eating. It was similar to sights that she had seen in Kenya. In the wilds of the Masai Mara giraffes would browse from the tree tops as impala browsed from lower lying plants. The hadrosaur and Thescelosaur did the same. It seems these things never changed.

"I think we might need to take a different path," she laughed.

Suddenly over her headset there was a crackling noise. Graham's strained voice came over the headset but through interference from the storm she couldn't make out most of it. What she could make out horrified her though: Prehistoric Park had a trespasser.

 _Bob_

Another clap of thunder followed the bolt of lightning that had immediately preceded it. He had practically jumped out of his skin when that had happened. Why did it all have to happen at once? Transporting a Tyrannosaurus to the vets, manoeuvring around Triceratops and a horrific storm. If it was just two of those things he would have been fine but all three together was just a disaster waiting to happen. Not to mention was how the weekly ship had arrived just before the storm. At least he didn't have to sort that out. His phone started ringing at that moment and the Operations Manager for Prehistoric Park, Jiao Xipang, appeared on his phone screen. Bob was thankful that Prehistoric Park had its own Operations Manager instead of just using Shinchoku Co.'s Operations Manager; he had heard that guy was a real irritable man. He pressed the screen and it went to loudspeaker.

"Hi Jiao. Pleasant weather we're having."

"Bob have you ordered something?"

"Yeah. Some wood for animal enrichment and fence building. What else? Some toys for the animals, you know like balls and stuff. A bunch of frozen meat, the food synthesisers broke again. I think that's it, why do you ask?"

"Did you order any live animals?"

"No. Out of my authority." It was out of everyone's authority. The New Zealand government only allowed animals rescued via the time portal to come to the Nga Rara islands in order to preserve the wildlife on the islands. Jiao swore down the phone.

"The ship was going to Hong Kong after here. It was carrying a crate full of wallabies, with no paper work as well, which have now gotten out. One of the dockworkers heard them rustling about in the smallest crate you could imagine. Probably going to an illegal private zoo."

Bob swore. He hated it when up jumped rich kids with more money than sense bought rare or exotic animals for their own amusement. Half the conservation movements got undermined because some cretin saw something rare, cute looking animal like a slender loris or a golden lion tamarin and paid a fortune to black market poachers for it. When the phone call ended he received a text of one of the escapee wallabies and a few words saying: _There're another fifteen_. Thankfully they were Bennett's wallabies. Not rare but cute. He went to use his headset to get Graham to put out a notice but all he got was horrific static thanks to the storm. Non-perturbed he just rang Graham.

"Graham there is fifteen escapee wallabies which jumped ship. No pun intended."

"I'll get a message out. Bob we've got a trespasser. I caught them on CCTV." Bob gulped. That could only be bad news. "Wait, where are you?"

"Transporting our Tyrannosaurus to the vets. Just passing the mammoth vehicle entrance." A rumble in the back from Diocletian indicated that he was still awake. The notion that he was casually transporting a T rex had not sunk in yet.

"The storm knocked down the servers but before it did I managed to track the trespasser. They're near where you are."

Bob swore loudly then. Someone had blindly walked out into the middle of the road in a state of panic. On the opposite side of the road a large three horned monster was stamping its feet in anger and causing its frill to turn from yellow to dark red. He would say that the Triceratops looked like it would charge if he hadn't of known that they didn't charge; instead they gruesomely gored their attackers. Bob swerved the truck trying to avoid the person in the road. He could feel the tail end slipping in the mud until there was a horrific crash. He shot forward in his seat. Through the truck's mirrors he could see everything happen in horror. The back of the truck had pushed its way through the fencing and over the small moat which ran around the edge of the enclosure. A bright red light flashed on his dashboard alerting him to the fact that the back of the truck was partially open. There was another crash which caused the doors to fly open. There was a low, reptilian hiss and Diocletian exited the truck.

"Not this, not now!" Above his seat was a tranquiliser rifle with some xylazine darts. How much should he use? Too little Diocletian would walk on as if nothing happened, albeit sleepily, but if he used too much he could put the dinosaur into a comatose. Before he had started arguing with Dr. Steiner Phil had told him that judging by Diocletian's size he should weigh around the same amount as an Asian elephant. Thank god the last place he worked at had Asian elephants. Horror struck he heard distress cries.

Completely ignoring the earth below his feet turning to mud and the rain roaring around him he sprinted to the source of the frightened trumpets. His calves burned, his heart strained and his breathing became laboured but he ignored it all. He cried out in fear. Diocletian had separated the baby mammoth from the rest of his herd. Saqui was charging furiously at the dinosaur although Bob knew instantly that she would not be fast enough to prevent what was going to happen. He put the rifle's sight to his eyes. It was no use; the angle he was at meant he could not get a clear shot. Frustrated he picked up a stone before throwing it with all his might at the dinosaur. Miraculously it hit the Tyrannosaurus square on the head. Fortunately this called off the mammoth hunt. Unfortunately it caused Diocletian to bolt towards Bob. He froze in terror. His mind ordered his arms to fire at the dinosaur but they refused to listen. He could see the dinosaur's teeth. It was coming closer…

A horrific roar echoed behind Diocletian. Saqui had reached the dinosaur and had proceeded to ram her head into back of the Tyrannosaur. He flailed, waving his small arms simultaneously, and made a small snap at Saqui. She ignored this and charged again, ramming into the dinosaur. He made a distressed snarl before running off. Bob seized this opportunity by taking aim and firing at the dinosaur. A blue flower lodged itself into the leg of the giant who ambled to the back of the truck. It seemed to go to the only place it knew was safe. It went into the back of the truck and with a loud thud went to sleep. Something then started fondling his shoulder. He turned around to see Saqui affectionately wrapping her trunk around him while making gentle snorts of affection. He smiled and rubbed her trunk.

"We're friends now?"

Utterly drenched he left the mammoth to lock the rex away. As some male keepers arrived she gave extremely hostile roars of aggression in their direction.

"You may not trust them but at least you now trust me."

 _Graham_

Blue stretched across each screen which frustrated him to no end. He had been hoping that this storm would be different. That during this storm the servers would not go out. A part of him knew that they would go out anyway in some bizarre way for reality to spite him. They had to go out at the wrong time as well. First Prehistoric Park had to deal with transporting three of the now largest carnivorous creatures to walk the land for the vets to check up, then about two dozen dinosaurs came through and managed to get out of the holding pens, then the dockworkers accidentally let out a bunch of wallabies which now were running lose, and to top it all off somebody had managed to get on the Nga Rara islands.

 _Twenty minutes ago_

"Graham who's that?" Bogdan asked. Graham looked away from his screen to look at the screen of his co-worker. A woman was walking away from the outer exit of the Carboniferous Dome. He had never seen her before although that was not something new. Prehistoric Park had just exited Phase One so it had barely started to expand. Already the park had over a hundred staff members ranging from veterinary technicians to construction workers and it was still hiring more staff. Most of the park would be run by computers but it still required lots of people to run it.

"Maybe new staff." All new staff members, with much justification, were eager to tour the park before their actual work started. Bogdan still looked concerned. "Run a facial scan."

A minute later the scan came back negative. The woman was not a staff member of Prehistoric Park. There could only be three explanations for who she were: a relative of a staff member, a worker on the ships or a trespasser. Relatives of staff members would either have a temporary file on hand if they were visiting or they would have a permanent one if they lived in the worker's village so this ruled them out being a relative. She could have worked on one of the visiting ships but that was impossible; in the last week they only had one ship which was still unloading at the docks. Anyway, the Carboniferous Dome was quite the distance from the docks. The only other boat was the daily one to and from New Zealand for staff to go to work or go home but someone would notice someone new on there. This left one answer.

"Bogdan. Thank god you've got good eyesight."

 _Now_

He just got a text from Bob. He had sighted the trespasser but she had gotten away. His heart froze when a second text came back saying that the Tyrannosaur had briefly gotten out. Each of the things going wrong today could warrant Prehistoric Park either being shut down or getting into serious shit. Even the bloody wallabies! The Nga Rara islands had several endangered animals living on it, like the Fijian crested iguana, which meant they could not build in some areas of the islands. Heck almost a quarter of the smallest island they couldn't build on because of some bats and lizards! However, he knew how dangerous an invasive species could be. His own country of Australia was very particular about letting foreign animals into their borders; you just had to look at the cane toads to see why. Unless the wallabies were quickly caught they could easily spread into areas where Prehistoric Park was not allowed to go into.

"Come on Bogdan let's go help outside. We can't fix the servers until the storm's over."

"What can we do? We cannot use tranquilisers to catch animals."

"No but we can find your girlfriend." He said laughing grabbing his coat. Bogdan followed after him protesting about being linked to the park's trespasser.

 _Phil_

Alfred was stroking his grey, bushy moustache as he tried to get his point across. So much arguing and they still could not agree.

"Phil you argue skull shape is enough to class Torosaurus as separate from Triceratops but not enough to separate Anatosaurus from Edmontosaurus!" Alfred argued in his accent.

"I also argue that we have skulls of elderly Triceratops and sub-adult Torosaurus. Anyway we've proved that theory incorrect as Charles is an elderly Triceratops."

"Except that the toro-form skulls are associated with not which our lovely Charles is. Stop skirting around the fact that you have yet to address the issue of the lack of a fleshy comb on the males. Amelia even told me that you were almost convinced that Anatosaurus was separate to Edmontosaurus when you saw our hadrosaurs lacked the comb."

"Well…yes…" A loud chirrup echoed around the back of the jeep.

"You've disturbed him now!" Alfred said unhappily. How he managed to lean into the back to whisper reassuring words in German to the alvarezsaur he had little clue. They had both agreed to take the bird-like dinosaur to the vets which explained why it was sitting in a pet carrier at the back of his jeep. At least they could agree on one thing: the little guy used his single claw to open insect nests. A bit like his cousin the Shuvuuia and Albertonykus.

Through the sweeps of his wipers and the heavy rain Phil noticed someone walking by the side of the road. He could tell that must be freezing cold as she was not wearing a coat. Who wouldn't be freezing cold in this weather? He pulled over and Alfred rolled down the window.

"Would you like a lift?" he yelled. The woman eagerly nodded her head. Ever the gentleman Alfred got out and offered to put her bag in the trunk for her. Despite her initial protests the charm of the man won her over. _Must be the moustache. I need to grow one_. The waterlogged woman got into the back and almost jumped out of her skin upon seeing the alvarezsaur.

"Don't mind him. He's a bug muncher. You should warm up soon because we've had the heating up full blast for him. Late Cretaceous Montana was very warm so we're keeping nice and toasty for the little guy."

She looked curiously at the brown feathered dinosaur with black whiskers around his beak. The dinosaur fixed her with his giant, saucer shaped, amber eyes. He gave a chirrup expecting some sort of food offering from her.

"What is it? A bird or something?"

Both Alfred and he looked into each other's eyes desperately suppressing smiles. They were eager to see her reaction to what it was. "Birds are related to him. He's a dinosaur called an alvarezsaur." She had a look of disbelief on her face. The little scamp was a far cry away from the snarling reptiles of Arthur Conan Doyle's _Lost World_ and Michael Crichton's _Jurassic Park_.

"Where to?" Phil asked.

"The docks thanks." He started driving to the docks instead of his original destination. "I haven't seen you before. You new?"

"Yeah. Today actually. I'm a new zookeeper. I left my case at the docks like a complete moron."

Alfred pulled a face at that. Phil smiled wondering what was going on. "You're going to be busy then. We're the park's palaeontologists. Say, have you heard about there being a trespasser?"

"Sorry I haven't." She said that very nonchalantly but her failure to make eye contact in the mirror raised figurative question marks. "Before we picked you up Alfred and I were having a very enthralling discussion on the park's new hadrosaurs." He gestured with his head to Alfred's phone.

"Ah…yes," he replied trying to sneakily send texts to whoever he could. "Yes I think we should copy Jack Horner and Michael Brett-Surman and call it Anatotitan until we can conclusively prove it is Edmontosaurus or not. Wait I really think we should send this guy to the vet; just to make sure."

Phil got the message. He started heading back in the direction of the vets. Through the mirror he could see the passenger becoming increasingly agitated. When they arrived at the vets they were not greeted with a fanfare of trumpets but instead virtually all of the head staff and a Tyrannosaurus looking over the fencing. He saw Amelia walk up to the car and open the passenger door.

"How you doing love?" He loved her English accent.

 _Hiroshi_

They all sat in the clinic looking at the trespasser intently. She was about five foot three with shoulder length black hair, white skin and brown eyes. Looking carefully he could see a tattoo peek out from the collar of her shirt. At a guess he would put her in her mid-twenties. He had been surprised that she hadn't made a dash for it as soon as Amelia opened the jeep door. He had a feeling that seeing the Tyrannosaur had something to do with it, especially when it snarled revealing his very large and dangerous looking teeth. Currently the trespasser was looking very sheepish as Bob looked through the camera found in her bag.

"Photos of the animals," he said. Hiroshi looked at them. He was impressed; there were several nice photos.

"I think I might use these photos for the calendar. By the way did you have anything to do with the wallabies?"

"Wallabies? What? No." She had an American accent, which state he could not tell.

"Shame. I was hoping I could get you done for illegally smuggling animals into the country and partaking in black market trade. Looks like I'll have to settle for trespassing and destruction of property."

"What?" she yelled in outrage. "I have done neither of those."

"Of course you haven't," Hiroshi replied with a smile. "That must have been someone else running from a Triceratops causing my Head Keeper to crash into some fencing and it must have been someone else who illegally came onto my property. Was it you Amelia? Or was it you Graham? Wait, I know, it was Jing the keeper." The trespasser looked at her feet in what appeared to be shame. "Who sent you? I might drop one of the charges if you tell me."

"I don't know his name. He just told me he represented your biggest rival…" Of course, Vine Tech Industries. Someone there must want a pay rise. No wonder they omitted their name; if it got out they would likely lose more than their job. "He said I had to go to your wildlife sanctuary and go to the labs. He said he had good knowledge that you had your labs here for safe keeping. I would come here with that ship, go to the labs, take photos of the shit you had here and get back. I couldn't find the labs but I saw your portal and…the…dinosaurs."

"Of course you couldn't find the labs I don't have any here. Well, not for another year at least." Amelia gave him a dark look. "Do not worry it is nothing sinister. We found out Hynerpeton are resistant to the fungus killing the world's amphibians. I was hoping to make some labs here to test it out." Amelia smiled at that. Why did everyone want to believe he was some sinister person? "Can someone phone the police to inform them about this for me?"

"Please!" The trespasser yelled. Her brown eyes started to well up with tears. Her voice had become cracked and she genuinely looked terrified. "I can't be arrested. I'll be deported. I was desperate for rent money and my husband's brother new a guy. Please, I'm begging you."

Everyone looked at him. He became a stoic at that moment which stopped anyone from reading his face. It was more for the benefit of the trespasser; if she had no clue about what he would do next that would serve him. "This is what shall happen. I will give this camera to someone here who will delete every photo, you will go back onto the ship and then go home. When you go home you will tell your employer that his information is false and that the reason I have been so secretive is because I have a rhino extinct in the wild whose horn goes for exceedingly high prices on the black market. Meanwhile, I will not have a team of lawyers hunt you down like a hound after a fox for every last coin. Is that fair?"

The trespasser looked agitated. "I'm sorry but I have to have photos. Even if they aren't of the labs."

"Amelia, Morarji, Bob you all have photos of rare animals you've worked with?" he asked them. They all nodded in reply. "Put them onto this camera."

When the photos had been uploaded the trespasser started to pack up and leave. "I do not know your name."

"It's Kimberly. Kimberly Duncan."

"Ms Duncan. Please tell me something. How did you manage to do sneak in?"

"Well…my mom is from Colorado but my dad is from New Zealand. Until I was twelve we lived in New Zealand where he worked as a ranger Orana Wildlife Park. He taught me to track animals but also be very sneaky."

He smiled and passed her a card. "My number. If you ever need of a well-paying occasional job I might have one for you."

 _That night_

Hiroshi sat in his office being wafted by fans hanging from the ceiling. The storm was rumbling over the forest in the distance. Now that the rains had vanished in this part of the island the heat had returned with a furious vengeance. Hiroshi stood up and removed his shirt. He then walked over to the punching bag in the corner of the room. Then he lost it. With a fury that had never ceased him before he repeatedly punched the bag. Every punch caused a searing pain to roar over his knuckles turning them a darker red with each punch. Punch after punch after punch he laid into his punching bag. His knuckles burst open causing blood to splatter on the bag but he paid no attention to it. His anger outweighed the pain.

Everything could have come crashing around his ears today. Everything he had ever dreamed and hoped for. Since he was old enough to walk he had wanted to see a dinosaur. All through his life he had wanted to see a dinosaur. The great beasts that had once ruled the world. When he inherited Shinchoku Co. from his father he had used that technology to put humanity on Mars but that was nothing to him. As the world applauded Shinchoku Co. for achieving humanity's dream of conquering the stars he just saw his own failure to bring his dream to fruition. All his money put into fossil analysis to clone a dinosaur all went down the drain. Every wildlife sanctuary or conservation program created by him made him just wish his dream to reverse extinction was real. Then he found Einstein's notes on time travel. He had the money and now the ability to achieve his dream. It had been going so well.

Today one storm could have ended it all! Just one storm! One storm! He felt tears well up in his eyes. Exhausted he collapsed where he stood. All his knuckles bled from his furious attack on the punching bag. Wait…it could have ended it all but it didn't. Graham had got the servers back online. Diocletian was soon recaptured. So were those wallabies that were now being taken care of by Jesse. They would soon be given a new, better life. They had caught the trespasser, sabotaged his rival and possibly gained a useful staff member. Saqui the mammoth now trusted Bob. The herd of Triceratops and hadrosaurs now had an enclosure. He stood up smiling. He had passed through the abyss and came out stronger. After bandaging his knuckles he looked out at his park. His park of prehistory. Twenty-six species of extinct plant and animal lived in his park. What else? He will get Amelia and Phil to go on a mission for a Darwinius. What then? Anything really: the mosasaurs, pterosaurs, dodos. He laughed. There was no limit.

"This is just the beginning."

 **Notes:**

 **The next chapter will be the seventh mission. Now that Phase One is over I'm going to ask you all a few questions. First off, would you want Nigel Marven and Kimberly to become fulltime members of Prehistoric Park? Second, would you like me to do the next time which was shown at the end of each episode of the actual series? Third, in either Phase Two or Three there shall be an aerial and an ocean rescue mission/s. These will involve a boat and a plane. My third question is what should the boat and plane be called? Thanks for reading and please leave comments, criticisms and the like.**


	14. Mission 7- Close Cousin

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and a palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **This mission takes them to the Messel Pit of Germany in hunt for an early primate but they must avoid a very large, territorial bird and some very toxic gas.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 7- Close Cousin**

 **With Phase Two now beginning Prehistoric Park's experiment in ending extinction has been a success. The park now has a herd of Columbian mammoths, a flock of ostrich like Struthiomimus and three Tyrannosaurus. Today the team a wanting to rescue an animal closer to home.**

The slender loris grasped the piece of fruit in its childlike hands before it unceremoniously shoved it into its mouth. It looked at Amelia with its big, sad looking eyes which made her just want to hug the strange primate. This loris was one of Prehistoric Park's first extant animals to reside in the park. Following the wallaby escape the New Zealand government had kindly requested, or forcibly told, Hiroshi Komom to take in endangered animals to help make Prehistoric Park a true wildlife sanctuary. She doubted that he would have said no regardless; Hiroshi was an ardent conservationist and the Nga Rara islands already had endangered animals living wild. Currently only two species of extant animals had been sent to the park: the red slender loris rescued from an appalling zoo and the Bennett's wallabies which the government allowed the park to keep. In the next few days several endangered New Zealand animals will be being moved to the park. So far everyone had liked the loris. One of the camera crew was currently laughing at the cute antics of one of them.

"Now that we're accepting extant animals we can truly help conservation," she said smiling. "However, there is an actual reason why we're with the loris."

It was another one of Phil's ideas. He loved his eccentric openings. "In 2009 a landmark fossil was announced to the public. For years they had been looking for the transitional link between prosimians, like this loris here, and simians, which includes monkeys, apes and us. Little Ida sent shockwaves around the world and because her existence was announced the same year of Charles Darwin's two-hundredth anniversary she was named Darwinius. We now know she isn't the transitional fossil we briefly thought she was but she is a close cousin to the real one."

"Darwinius lived in the middle Eocene, forty-seven million years ago, at a place just outside of Frankfurt called the Messel Pit. It was very different from today's Germany." Phil explained as he laughed at a loris trying to climb up his arm making sounds eerily like a baby.

 **Darwinius lived in a world which had finally recovered from the devastation which wiped out the dinosaurs. Europe and North America experienced far warmer temperatures allowing crocodiles and snakes and tropical plants to live outside their present day locations. This is a time when the Darwinius existed.**

Amelia had decided that it was not the best idea to bring the jeep this mission. After the nightmare of navigating the jeep through a Carboniferous forest she doubted that it would be easier to navigate one through an Eocene forest. It would take two trips to carry their equipment but it would be worth it compared to the hassle with the jeep.

"Where's the newbie?" Mike asked with eagerness in his voice.

"She's getting a tour of the park with Bob before she comes with us," she replied tersely.

Phil suddenly felt quite awkward. Now that the other prospective time traveller had backed out Hiroshi had decided to hire Kimberly Duncan full time. Although it was common knowledge among the head staff how Kimberly came to the knowledge of Hiroshi the rest of the staff had little clue. When she had arrived her more _feminine_ attributes had turned a few heads, including Mike's. Amelia, however, still viewed her as a snake in the grass. He was just glad that there was some breathing time between Kimberly being hired and her first mission with them. Well, at least there was the Eocene to distract them.

They took their first steps through the time portal and arrived in Eocene Germany. It struck Amelia how similar it was to the Nga Rara islands. Tropical plants stretched all over, (although the undergrowth was not as thick as that of the Nga Rara islands), tropical bugs buzzed in the air, the humidity caused their clothes to cling to their skin like limpets, and brightly coloured flowers shone in the sun which managed to pierce the canopy. A few spare keepers came through the portal, shuddering at the unpleasant feeling, and dropped off the rest of their equipment before returning to the future. Amelia noticed a large lake behind them which bubbled. A beeping from her carbon dioxide monitor fastened to her bag started beeping.

 **A big reason why so many fossils have been preserved at the Messel Pit is due to the volcanic gases which would periodically sweep over the area.**

"Let's make camp here," Mike announced. She was glad that he had finally gotten over his phobia of making camp in the prehistoric.

"I wouldn't advise that," Phil laughed. "Crocodiles have been found here."

As if to confirm this a log shaped head parted the water before diving back down below. At that moment Mike seemed all too eager to make camp farther into the forest. Leaving the carriers where they had been unceremoniously dumped where the portal had emerged. It was a fairly pleasant walk as the sun was brightly shining through the branches of the trees. The only sounds that they could hear were the cheerful clicks of insects and the slowly quietening beep of her carbon dioxide monitor. Through the undergrowth she spotted what looked like a small rat bounding through the foliage but it went too quickly before she could properly make it out. Judging by Phil's face if he hadn't been over encumbered with their equipment he probably would have gone after it.

"Looking for a Darwinius will be an ordeal," Amelia said for the camera. "Their modern day relatives like lemurs, bushbabies and our red eyed loris back at the park are arboreal…" She noticed Mike's confused face at that. "Tree-dwelling. It's hard to track an animal which spends most of its time in the trees."

There was a low pitched croak. It was bird-like. In fact it seemed to be a mix of a rhea's call and that of a cassowary. Another replied. They all stopped still as it made a booming noise right next to them.

 **Meanwhile, back at Prehistoric Park Bob is taking the new recruit Kimberly around the park and up next is the largest carnivore at feeding time of all times.**

Bob could see Kimberly wrinkle her small nose in disgust. He had to admit that the large carcass wasn't the nicest smelling thing in existence and with large black flies buzzing over the bloodied chunk of meat didn't make it the nicest looking thing either. A large hook was forced into it meat which was then hoisted up on a chain. A mechanism took the meat over the top of the fencing so it managed to enter the enclosure. Over the top of the enclosure was a series of railings which the chain was attached to. From the keeper hub someone would control the direction of the meat.

"Why is this done?" Kimberly asked looking taken aback by the strange feeding mechanism.

"We want to keep them stimulated which means replicating a hunt. Look can you see him?" He pointed to a thicket. Diocletian looked through the bush hungrily at the carcass hanging on a hook. Another bush shook and he could see the much larger Leonidas focus on the meat.

 **Prehistoric Park is home to three Tyrannosaurs: the big female Sue, the big male Leonidas and the young male Diocletian. They were rescued just as the asteroid made impact with the planet sixty-six million years ago.**

"Sometimes they hunt in groups so that's why we haven't separated them…For now." He dreaded the day that Diocletian decided that he could have Leonidas's and Sue's territory for himself. "Just watch."

The hunt started Diocletian burst from the bush and ran in front of the carcass snarling. Someone in the hub caused the carcass to back off until he ran behind it giving another snarl. This continued for a bit until Leonidas emerged from his hiding place with a low boom emerging from his formidable jaws. His teeth slammed onto the carcass and Bob could hear the bones crunch from where he stood. He shook his head several times and the carcass was ripped off of the hook. As it slammed onto the earth dirt and stones flew around. Diocletian went to tuck in until Leonidas snapped his massive jaws at him. He gave a feeble snarl but another snap of Leonidas's jaws caused him to dart off out of biting reach. Hungrily Leonidas ripped huge chunks out of the carcass.

"That's…that's a bit unfair," Kimberly commented looking very pale.

"The bigger ones get to eat first but Leonidas won't eat too much. Look!" The Tyrannosaur ripped another massive chunk out of the meal and started walking off with it. "His mate Sue is building a nest so he'll take food for her. Feeding them is a pain though."

 **A fully grown Tyrannosaurus needs to eat 40,000 calories a day to be healthy. That means a lot of food for each of the dinosaurs.**

Kimberly pulled a face as Diocletian started tucking in. The blood smeared his head as he gulped down several huge chunks of meat. Compared to Amelia Kimberly's career tracking animals was very different. Tracking zoo animals with your father and wild kakapos was a far cry from watching wild hyenas. At least Kimberly was good at her job though.

"Where to now?" she asked looking green under the gills as Diocletian continued on with his feast.

"How are you with bugs? And when I mean bugs I mean dragonflies the size of gulls and scorpions the size of cats."

Judging by her face stupidly large bugs was something that she was not too comfortable with.

 **Meanwhile, back in Eocene Germany instead of giant bugs the team have found a pair of giant birds instead.**

The two birds circled one another making low pitched booming calls. They had very large yellow beaks which were a dark yellow colour and it seemed to be a sharp beak as well. The faces were covered on red feathers whereas the rest of the body had green feathers except for the underside which was speckled. Their legs were very similar to that of an ostrich. Both birds clacked their beaks against one another making sounds like some form of sword combat. It was difficult for her to make out their sizes as they were continuously moving their long necks in an attempt to outmanoeuvre their opponent. Each one would give a low squawk whenever the other managed to land an impact.

"Phil. Can you tell what they are?" Amelia asked.

"Gastornis parisiensis." He started creeping towards them. Normally she would chastise him like a mother chastising a child for trying to climb on the barriers at a zoo, but with the birds, (the Gastornis), busy battling she decided to let it slide. Anyway, the documentary makers should get good footage from his camera. "These amazing birds will vanish in two million years' time when the polar ice caps grow changing the global climate. It was once thought that they were predators based on that big beak…"

"Of course," she whispered. "Their beaks end in a point but if you look at the Titanis it ends in a hook to rake flesh."

"That's one way how we found out it was herbivorous. Isotope analysis of their bones found they had to eat plants and the carbon isotopes found in it showed it mostly ate nuts and fruits. Eocene fruits had very hard skins so they had to have a sharp beak to slice through them."

"Let's leave them for now," Amelia interjected. "An ostrich can easily kill someone by kicking them. A Gastornis has a sharp beak as well as the ability to kick."

They walked past the battling birds further into the forest. Although the beeps of her carbon monitor no longer sounded out the sounds of the warring birds continued to echo around the forest for quite some time. There was a good patch which was safely nestled in some foliage which she was sure would be safe for them to set up camp. As they were in the middle of setting up the second tent she saw a strange cluster of animals snuffling through the fallen leaves. They resembled horses but were only the size of a normal tabby cat. They had orange-brown fur which was interspersed with white spots.

"Hey Phil. Check this out."

Phil saw them and proceeded to tiptoe towards them. The nearest horse creature looked up at Phil giving a little sound that was not yet a whinny before running off past the rest of the herd. Strange, it had toes instead of hooves. All the rest of the herd were busy eating something covered by the fallen grey-brown leaves.

"Propalaeotherium. An ancestor to horses, or at least closely related to their ancestors. Look they're so old they have yet to evolve hooves having toes instead. Hey there little guys." One snorted and continued to eat oblivious of the time travellers. "Strange. We always assumed they would be skittish."

Amelia knelt down and picked something up in her fingers. It was a grape and by the look of it the grape had started to ferment. She giggled. "Fermented grapes. They're pissed. Come on, we need to prepare to catch a Darwinius."

 **Meanwhile, back at Prehistoric Park one of the Head Vets Suzanne has looked in on the Struthiomimus and one seems to be acting oddly. That is odd for a flocking, ostrich-like dinosaur.**

The park architect had a small hideout built into the Struthiomimus enclosure which served as the keeper hub. Currently only she was in the hub. It happened to be sweltering in the hub which made watching the Struthiomimus a chore in itself. The air conditioning unit in the hub had broken but as no things like fish or meat had to be stored in the Struthiomimus keeper hub the air conditioning unit was not high up on the list of things to fix. With a diet consisting of seeds, mealy worms and lizards it was either dry food or could be put into the small refrigerator in the hub. Most of the flock was currently bathing in the lake in their enclosure which Suzanne looked enviously on. Three other of the ostrich-like dinosaurs were sleeping in ferns bobbing their heads about as they looked for food. However, one Struthiomimus was acting strange.

"I'm worried about that Struthiomimus. It's another warm day and she's not in either the shade or the lake like the others. Instead she's just been hopping about this area."

Wait. There seemed to be a ring behind the feet of the dinosaur partially concealed by some bushes. It oddly resembled a nest. "That looks a lot like a nest. We could have a pregnant dinosaur on our hands."

Only one way could confirm this. Half an hour later she had an anaesthetized dinosaur lying on the cold surface of her operating table. She pressed the scanner against the belly of the dinosaur feeling it writhe at the uncomfortable sensation; she was glad it had a bag over its head.

"Birds calm in the dark. Keeping this bag over her head is safer than using more anaesthesia."

On the screen the ultrasound came through. Twelve ovals could be seen on the screen. "Twelve eggs. This must be the time of year for the Struthiomimus. As birds are dinosaurs they will likely reproduce like their modern relatives. These will possibly be fertilised eggs; unfertilised egg laying is rare in the wild but with the climate conditions of Hell Creek at the time they could very well be unfertilised. The others likely have eggs as well. Bob's gonna love this."

 **As Prehistoric Park prepares for a gaggle of baby Struthiomimus the time travellers back in Eocene Germany are beginning to hunt for Darwinius.**

Through the canopy she could see golden light engulf the sky. By now the ancient horses had seemed to trust the time travellers so much now that they had begun grazing near their tents. It was a shame that they weren't going extinct for another ten million years and that they weren't near the volcanic lake. She would have loved a couple at the park but removing them from the Messel Pit could mess up the local ecosystem. For the last few hours Phil had been filming the tiny horses as Jean sketched them, (turned out he was an artist), and Mike slept in the tent. For some reason he mumbled her name once. Meanwhile, she had been studying up on the Darwinius while trying to avoid being bitten by some of the largest ants she had ever seen. Little bastards. Or she should say big bastards.

"We're waiting until dusk. Based on Ida the reconstructions have portrayed Darwinius having large eyes like this." She angled her camera to show one reconstruction. "Big eyes mean a nocturnal animal. Several of the Darwinius's modern relatives like the bushbaby are nocturnal so it's likely our little Darwinius are."

A few leaves fluttered elegantly from the treetops like green feathers as something moved through the trees. Several bats were fluttering through the branches of the trees. That was a positive sign; if bats were out then a nocturnal primate must be as well. After rallying the others she headed off back towards the lake where the pet carriers were. Quickly the golden light had started to vanish as the night took over from the day. They shone lights to make sure that they could still see despite the vanquishing of the sun and the golden beams illuminated now ghostly trees. She just hoped that the crocodiles had chosen not to rest of their side of the lake; modern day crocodiles often rested on riverbanks and she imagined Eocene crocodilians being similar.

"Keep an eye out on the trees. Darwinius may be out now."

There were some more rustling. Something was definitely in the trees but she couldn't tell what it was. She could smell something. It smelt a lot like urine.

"Has something pissed?" Mike asked.

A realisation came to her then. "Bushbabies and similar primates often pee on their hands…" At this Mike gave a voice of disgust. "It's an easy way for them to mark their territory. This could be our Darwinius."

The rustling in the trees started moving downhill towards the lake. Hopefully the tree-dwellers might descend from the trees for a quick drink. It was still impossible to make out what the animal was but part of her hoped it would be the Darwinius. At her hip the monitor started making metallic beeps as it sensed increased amounts of carbon as they got closer and closer to the lake. Their beams of light suddenly shined on a small bush where a sleeping Gastornis had its head tucked under one wing. Littered around the entrance of the nest were several opened nuts and dissected hard-skinned fruits which the bird had yet to eat. Suddenly something came down the tree. A thin primate with a long tail scurried down the tree trunk and onto to forest floor. It had two large red eyes with massive pupils, an orange head and arms, and a blue-black body tail. It stared quizzically at them before jumping on one of the opened nuts and started chewing on it.

"Darwinius!" Phil whispered.

 **Now that they've found a Darwinius there's just the small matter of capturing it.**

The little primate was happily nibbling on the nut left from the Gastornis's meal. Could she take her jacket off and throw it at the thing hoping it would get caught up in the clothing? No it was too risky. The Darwinius was fast so it would likely dart off and there was the bigger issue of waking the Gastornis. It turned out not to matter at all. The monitor just made a large beep which made the Darwinius dart up the tree in distress. And it woke up the Gastornis. This one had a tuft of white feathers on the head forming a crown. A male.

"Someone tell Control and put the portal behind me."

Although Gastornis had another two million years left to live to ever increasing gas bursts would mean it was only a matter of days, if not hours, before the gas gets released. No matter how big a bird it was it would not be able to survive the invisible, ethereal killer. The Gastornis inspected her curiously. He had never seen anything her size before so he was acting cautious. A few quiet guttural caws managed to escape the huge beak of the bird. Slowly she edged back. In the corner of her eye she could see the portal sticks sticking out of the ground. The Gastornis made a small lunge at her which forced her back behind the portal sticks. All of a sudden the swirling vortex of the time portal erupted in front of her and she could see something blue beyond the portal.

"Gone through?"

"Gone through."

 **It may not be a Darwinius but the big bird is a welcomed resident in Prehistoric Park.**

Bob could see Jesse give a cursory look over the bird which was giving angry low pitched caws from the holding pen. When they moved it to the vets he would give a better verdict on its health. Kimberly beside him looked dead on her feet. Work at Prehistoric Park didn't stop because the sun went down! First the Struthiomimus were pregnant and now a new bird.

"I want to feed it meat because it looks like a terror bird but something seems odd about it."

"That is because it is a Gastornis and not a terror bird!" Alfred Steiner explained. "That beak's for slicing through nut casings and hard-skinned fruit instead of flesh and bone!" Thank goodness, another veggie. He had to say Phil and Alfred had been a godsend in helping him at Prehistoric Park. Alfred, for one, had reassured him about the Struthiomimus. He had informed him that not all the eggs would be fertilised; although he was ecstatic that Prehistoric Park was going to get baby Struthiomimus he was worried in case it got too many at once.

"Let's get this birdie to the check-up."

 **Back in the Eocene the hunt for the Darwinius continues.**

Her monitor made another long beep as they reached the edge of the lake. The night, however, was oblivious to the gaseous killer which was on the verge of being released onto them. Bats flew from the night sky and skimmed the surface of the lake, crocodiles lounged and hissed at one another on the bank and giant flying ants buzzed in the air. Several Darwinius were gently sipping water from the edge of the lake occasionally looking around cautiously in case an unseen predator launched itself from the undergrowth. She would have happily made her move now if not for a large gas bubbling bursting from the lake's surface which caused them to dart up the trees in alarm. Sadness swept over her at that moment; the trees were so close to the lake if the gas pocket locked within its depths was finally released not even the treetops could escape the toxic gas. They were that close to the gas. She wasn't disheartened though. Her new plan would have to wait until the next day though.

The day could not come quick enough. For once she had a good night's sleep knowing being confident that her plan will be a success. After a quick breakfast of dried beef and fruits she had them cutting up fresh fruits and nuts to put in the pet carriers.

"We saw last night that the Darwinius we very eager to steal the fruit and nuts from a Gastornis. We'll use that to our advantage," she explained.

 **The little primates aren't the only thing on Amelia's mind. A much larger, feathery, animal is playing on Amelia's mind.**

She decided to take Phil with her in case they encountered anything which might need identifying. It would only be a matter of time before that gas pocket in the lake would finally rupture spreading the poisonous gas through the low lying areas. Although Gastornis had another two million years before it went extinct the ones by this lake only had a few days, if hours, before they were gassed to death. Close by the lakeside there were signs of a scuffle where the combatants clearly had three toed feet. It was the same prints from the Gastornis who had fought the day before. One set clearly went uphill so she knew that one would be safe from the gas; the other, meanwhile, went downhill to danger. There was a rustle in the bushes.

A small family of elephant shrew like animals were rustling about through the litter. She thought they would be large extinct elephant shrews until the largest stood in a bipedal stance. They had brown fur with white spots running down the back. Phil knelt down beside her so they would not disturb the rodent-like animals. "Leptictidium. Members of an order that died out millions of years ago. Look! It was thought they hopped."

"Clearly they don't," she laughed. Instead of hopping like a kangaroo they walked, but they had a little spring in their step. Judging by how close they were to the lake when the gas was finally released the strange little mammals would unfortunately suffocate. Careful not to disturb them Amelia forced the portal sticks into the soft earth of the forest floor. Phil was getting in contact with the park as she was doing this. The young Leptictidium were sticking close to the adults so if they got the adults they would get the babies. Phil, however, had a plan. He threw some string amidst the Leptictidium and started shaking it. Maybe the little animals would assume the string was a nice juicy worm. She breathed a sigh of relief when the nearest adult saw the string and started going after it. Phil jerked the string back and the Leptictidium followed it eagerly. He pulled it beyond the range of the sticks, but before the Leptictidium could jump onto the string she opened the portal. It vanished through and the nearest youngsters seeing its parent go through quickly followed suite. Finally the last remaining adult vanished into the future with the last remaining babies.

Content that they had rescued the Leptictidium from a horrid fate of suffocating to death the two of them continued following the Gastornis prints. It took an hour until they managed to locate the bird. The bird had a large gash on its face from where it had escaped the fight with the other Gastornis. She took off her jacket as Phil forced the sticks back into the ground once more.

"I'm going to something very foolish which I would normally chastise Phil for doing. Looks like I'll have to not yell at him anymore for playing the daredevil! Like the cassowary we've seen that Gastornis is territorial so I'm going to use that to our advantage." She whistled which caused the bird to look towards her making a croaking noise simultaneously. It started making low grumbles with the small wings outstretched. The large, three toed feet raked the forest floor in a defensive display. In response Amelia fluttered her jacket. The Gastornis started edging towards her continuing to make the low grunts and clawing at the earth; that is until it charged. She had not expected that. Frantically she threw her jacket on the ground and bolted towards the portal area. As she ran past the sticks the vortex opened sending the bird through.

"Remind me to never do that again!" she said laughing as she went to pick up her jacket. "Let's go back and help set up the traps. I don't trust Mike being alone this long with a knife."

Hours later they patiently waited at the side of the lake. The rest of the equipment had been packed away and sent back through the portal so once they caught the little primates they would only have to make one trip. It was quiet. The moon was shining brightly in the sky next to millions upon millions of tiny stars twinkling across the black sky. Even the surface of the lake was quiet. No crocodiles could be seen and there had been no gas bubbles for some time. It was rather ominous.

"We'll wait until the Darwinius come to the lakeside," she explained looking at the pet carriers full of nuts and fruits. "They'll see the carriers full of goodies and go in. We've attached the carrier lids to these pieces of rope so when one goes in we can just pull the lid closed."

Shortly after she gave this explanation the first Darwinius arrived on the scene. It nimbly jumped down from the tree trunk landing elegantly a foot away from a carrier. The Darwinius ignored the carriers and went straight for the lake instead. Just as she thought her plan had failed it went straight from lake to the carrier. It happily sat inside eating a tangerine. Quick as lightning Jean pulled on the rope and the carrier closed on the Darwinius.

"Yes our first primate!" Jean cried. It was true in two ways. It was their first Darwinius and Prehistoric Park's first primate. Another one slid down a tree, giant eyes shining in their lights, with a baby clinging onto its belly for dear life. It jumped into another carrier, baby still hanging on, and started setting onto a nut. Before she knew it a second joined it and they started nuzzling each other. Not wasting this opportunity she pulled onto the rope capturing the three primates. Over the course of the next two hours the night air rang out with the snap, snap, snap of lids closing mixed in with the occasional distress cry.

"That's our lot." They fastened the latches on the side of the carriers so they wouldn't fly open when transported. Jean put the sticks in and carried the first carrier through, (something that had to be done one carrier at a time because of the size of each carrier). Suddenly there was a huge rumble, (she could feel the ground shake under her feet), which caused bats to flee from the trees. The monitor on her hip made an almighty screech as the lake surface exploded.

 **An earthquake has released the built up gas within the lake. Right now invisible but deadly carbon dioxide gas has been released and now is spreading quickly.**

The monitor was screaming loudly causing the Darwinius to scream in return. All the while she was wobbling about as the earthquake shuck the earth. Jean managed to pick up another carrier and carry it through the portal.

"Pick up two!" she yelled. Feeling light headed she inhaled and picked up two carriers, one in each hand. Her muscles screamed in agony as she furiously waddled towards the portal. Mike vanished with his two carriers into the safety of the future. An unseen root almost tripped her up, but it caused her to exhale. The next inhale caused dots to swamp her eyes. She tripped again. Dirt and leaves smashed into her face. Not relenting to stood up, grabbed the carriers and ambled blindly forward. Suddenly she felt hands rip the carriers from her hands and another set of arms pull her forward. An unnerving feeling swept over her.

"You collapsed literally just in front of the portal!" a voice laughed with a hint of worry in it. When her eyesight returned she saw that Mike was holding her in his arms.

"I owe you one."

"How about dinner?" She saw his face contort in regret immediately after saying this. "You're on."

 **Now that Prehistoric Park has rescued a population of Darwinius it is time to give the little primates their new home.**

Amelia liked the idea for this exhibit. It would hit home better that these animals were just as normal as any other modern day animal. The Messel Pit Walkway allowed guests to walk, on a given path, through the enclosure as the Darwinius and Leptictidium lived their lives in peace around them. Currently she could see one of the shrew-like animals hunting on the path in front of her for mealy worms to eat.

"Urgh it's got pee on its hands!" Mike yelled making everyone laugh. His attempt to feed the primates had gone wrong quickly for him as one was now sitting on his shoulder grasping his neck with one pee covered hand. Despite the disgusting way they marked their territory the Darwinius were rather charming.

 **It looks like the first mission of Phase Two has been a success.**

 **Rescued this chapter:**

7 Darwinius masillae 3 male, 4 female

2 Gastornis parisiensis 1 male, 1 female

5 Lepctictidium auderiense 3 male, 2 female

 **Seen but not rescued:**

Propalaeotherium hassiacum

Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon

Asiatosuchus germanicus

Titanomyrma gigantean

 **Trivia:**

 **1\. This mission was mentioned in the last chapter but it wasn't initially going to be mission seven. Originally it was going to be a later mission in phase two. A mission for Archaeopteryx was going to be this mission.**

 **2\. There was going to be a joke about a lake monster in reference to Walking with Beasts but I couldn't work it in without it sounding forced.**

 **3\. I did toy with the idea of rescuing the Propalaeotherium but it seemed very forced, (Propalaeotherium wasn't going extinct when Darwinius lived so they could not be simply rescued). I really wanted the Leptictidium rescued though so that's why they were near the lake.**

 **4\. The Struthiomimus scene is based on the Ornithomimus one from the real series. I felt it didn't mention why other Ornithomimus were pregnant.**

 **5\. The Messel Pit Walkway is based off of the Lemur Walkway and the South America Viva walkway at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.**

 **Notes:**

 **I've decided not to do the next time thing at the end of each mission. The reason for this is that when I was writing Extinction World people would guess what was being rescued and then demand things to appear, and I felt constricted about what had to appear in the next chapter. Please keep sending me possible names for the aquarium, boat and plane though. Finally, I'm putting One Long Day on hold for some time, (maybe until September as of writing), so the next chapters will either be missions or some special chapters that I have in mind.**


	15. Mission 8- Bat Dinosaur

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and a palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **This time the team will travel to China during the Jurassic period where they will hunt for a bat-winged dinosaur living in the shadow of a volcano.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 8- Bat Dinosaur**

 **A new day dawns at Prehistoric Park and with it a new mission is being planned. The subject of this new mission happens to be a rather strange animal from the Jurassic period.**

It was silhouetted against an amber backdrop of the rising sun. A haunting giant wingspan which dwarfed the birds which ruled the day. Bats were seriously misunderstood creatures; always demoted to the sinister villain when in reality they were just remarkable flying creatures. Although they didn't have the same place in her heart as hyenas or lions bats had a place in Amelia's heart. The south side of the mountain, Te Ngakau, was one of the two places in the entire world where the Fijian monkey-faced bat could be found, (the other place being around the forest of the Des Veoux Peak). One reason why Hiroshi Komon was allowed the Nga Rara islands was because it was clear from his devotion to conservation that they would be safe, (and hopefully thrive).

"I remember seeing these in the news. 'The Jurassic Dragon'!" The saviour of the bats said happily. Hiroshi had very little input in what was rescued for the park with only the mission for the Tyrannosaurs being his decision. He would always say that he was 'letting the people who know what they're doing do what they do'. For that she was glad, who knows how many giant, carnivorous theropods would be roaming Prehistoric Park if it was solely up to Hiroshi?

"Not quite a dragon," Phil corrected stroking Hiroshi's pet parrot that was now making clucking noises. "The Yi had wings of a bat but lived like a flying squirrel."

 **The Yi qi was a very peculiar dinosaur. It was a tree dwelling dinosaur in a family called scansoriopterygidae which all lived in Jurassic China. As they had a long third finger it was assumed that they lived like the aye-aye. That is until the Yi was discovered recently. Perfectly preserved by volcanic ash it showed that scansoriopterygidae had bat-like wings.**

Amelia was rather excited. The Yi would be Prehistoric Park's first extinct residents of the aviary, (currently the only things residing in the aviary were a few kea). They had wanted to do a mission like this since Phase One, but it was only recently that the Chinese government gave them permission to go on missions in what is now their border. "Wait Phil you said all other scansoriopterygidae lived alongside the Yi. Could they just be one genus or even species?"

"Good thinking but there are several notable differences between the three species for them to be the same genus."

By the looks of things it would be another warm day at Prehistoric Park. Despite the sun being low in the sky its powerful rays were already making her sweat. The sun brightly reflected off of the sand in the holding pens which Amelia almost beg for some sunglasses to shield her eyes. As they rounded the corner she could see that the team were virtually ready. They had several pet carriers to carry the Yi back to the safety of the present, two sets of tents alongside some camping equipment, the communicator, and several miscellaneous items. The jeep was too big to go through the forests of Jurassic China 160.5 million years ago. At that moment she could feel her blood boil. Kimberly Duncan was there. She was so angry that Hiroshi had decided to give her a job despite the fact that she had almost sold photos of the park's residents to someone on the outside which could have royally messed the park up.

"Kimberly can I have a word?" In response the harlot gave a face of defiance but came regardless. She chose to ignore where Mike's eyes had wandered when she walked off. "I don't want a fight but I need to know exactly how much tracking you've done. And I mean of wild animals not the ones at the Orena Wildlife Park."

"I tracked keas and kiwis…once we went to Codfish Island to look for an injured kakapo but I got sent back to base. Before I returned to New Zealand I worked as a ranger at Yellowstone. Look I know not to wear perfumes and smelly deodorants, keep latrines away from camp, no strong smelling foods…I'm not some ditz."

"Good." She felt a twinge of shame then, not much though. "I'll just warn you though anyway. The past has many strange and unknown animals. You saw our raptors; Hell Creek is one of the most excavated fossil sites and it was only named last year. The Chinese fossil sites every year produces more and more new dinosaurs which we could never imagine. Just be careful."

Kimberly nodded in response. The portal had burst into life by the time her little speech had ended so all she had Kimberly had to do was help drag the last few items into the Jurassic. The peculiar feeling of the portal swept over her and she smiled as she saw Kimberly cringe at the horrendous feeling. In an instant the sandy holding pens vanished in favour of a rocky clearing overlooking a babbling river. Flanking the river was a Jurassic forest lying in the shadow of a volcano. Several gull sized pterosaurs were casually flying over the river. It was so picturesque that she even ignored Mike's joke about that ridiculous internet joke about that dinosaur cartoon.

 **The Yi is not the only thing to live in the skies of China 160 million years ago. Pterosaurs, like these ones, have been found in the droves at the Tiaojishan Formation.**

"Okay guys let's huddle round," Amelia ordered. Kimberly did this very reluctantly. She had an urge to give her a right good slap. "Phil said the Yi were tree-dwellers so if we want to find one or two we'll have to go into the forest. Kimberly you've had the most experience tracking arboreal animals so do you have any idea to start off with?"

Kimberly seemed taken aback by this. "Oh…um…To start off with the best bet will be to just walk through the forest looking upwards."

It wasn't a good plan by any stretch of the imagination but had any of the other plans been any better? With so little being known about extinct animal behaviour everything was just a stab in the dark. They trekked into the gingko and conifer forest where cycads and ferns consumed the earth under their feet. Just like the Nga Rara islands it was warm, hot, humid and tropical. In fact if it wasn't for the lack of grass, (and the fact that pterosaurs were flying over the nearby river), it would be forgivable to assume it was the Nga Rara islands! Like modern day tropical forests little light managed to peak its way through the tree branches, and what did manage to fight its way through lit up the forest floor before them. Herself, Phil, Mike and Jean living on the Nga Rara islands for some time had already gotten used to the humidity whereas Kimberly, (who had only ever lived on South Island or Yellowstone), was sweating buckets. Her bright blue shirt had quickly turned dark blue as the fabric greedily ate up her sweat. Once or twice Amelia noticed her flagging.

"Let's stop for a moment," she said. She went over to Kimberly and sat down beside her on a log. "Whenever you want to stop just say. No one will hold it against you."

"I'm fine!" she snapped back. "Sorry. I don't know what's the matter with me, I just felt light-headed all of a sudden."

"It's this fine Jurassic air!" Phil exclaimed. "Our atmosphere has twenty point nine-five percent oxygen whereas here it's at twenty-six percent. Takes some time getting used to."

They waited for some time for Kimberly's light-headedness to dissipate somewhat. She perked up after seeing Mike cry and jump onto Phil's back for safety after he saw five centimetre long spider crawl out from under the collapsed tree trunk he was sitting on. After that they saw little animal life although they could hear it. Throughout the treetops the cracks of branches from pterosaurs, primitive birds, (or their ancestors), and possibly scansoriopterygidae echoed throughout the forest. She was debating whether to head back now and collect the climbing gear when something rustled in front of them. Through the cycads she could see the odd looking dinosaurs.

"Come closer. Look at them!"

There was a pair of adults flanked by three youngsters. The adults were the size of a house cat being just over half a metre in length at a guess. Amelia thought they resembled the Thescelosaurus back at the park but with several notable differences. For one, their entire body were covered very short green, black and yellow bristles except for the back which were covered in very long brown bristles which ran from the back of the head to the hips. Their hands also seemed straighter as well as their beak containing very long, sharp teeth. The dinosaurs were making chirruping noises.

"These little guys are a type of dinosaur called heterodontosaurs," Phil whispered in his now signature excited tone. "A very special heterodontosaur called Tianyulong. See those bristles on their back? Those bristles were preserved when normally they aren't which showed us that all, if not most, dinosaurs had some level of feathering."

He grabbed hold of a nearby cycad leaf and yanked it from the earth. Quietly he crept up to the Tianyulong. One of the adults looked quizzically at him, chirruped, and hopped towards him. Playfully it bobbed around the fern making strange gurgling noises and nipping at the fronds of the leaf. With each bite she could see the sharp teeth of the dinosaur. Kimberly also edged forward holding out her hand. Before she could stop her Kimberly's hand rested upon the head of the dinosaur. Curiously the dinosaur did not seem to mind and started making happy chirrups.

"Be careful Kimberly. These guys are omnivores," Phil warned.

Suddenly there was a rumble which caused the ground underneath them to shake. The Tianyulong gave startled screeches as winged creatures above them fluttered in distress. Through the canopy Amelia could see the volcano causing a sickening feeling to well up in her stomach.

 **Jurassic volcanoes are another thing the team have to contend with. Meanwhile, back at Prehistoric Park Jesse the park vet has noticed something unusual with the Tyrannosaurs.**

He thought he would be having a quiet day today. All he had to do was check up on Prehistoric Park's newest endangered animal from the mainland, several tuatara, and he would have the day to himself. He had found them to be in full health which allowed Bob to move them into the Reptile House, (Amelia had been virulently campaigning for its name to be changed), to accompany the extinct golden toads. Just as he thought he could quickly ring his kids Bob had urgently summoned him to the Tyrannosaur exhibit. When he arrived Bob was shouting and pointing at something in the enclosure.

"What's all this commotion for?" he asked.

"Just look. Leonidas has been lying down over there with his mouth open for an hour. I thought maybe heatstroke but then this was the average temperature in the Cretaceous!"

Jesse did not like that sight. The giant dinosaur was bearing all its very large, pointy teeth, each one as sharp as a sword, for the entire world to see. A part of him felt queasy imagining poor, smaller animals going into that maw to be cut into a several pieces. Why was Leonidas doing that though? Hiroshi had regular health check-ups for all the animals and Leonidas's last check-up, (just last week), had shown no irregularities in his health. Maybe…

"Not again! I've been trying to stop those birds coming here!" Bob sighed with much exasperation.

A Pacific kingfisher fluttered into the enclosure. The islands were home to several bird species including the kingfisher which Bob had been fighting hard to keep separate from the extinct animals. It was an easy task with most of the other native fauna but he was fighting a losing battle with the kingfishers. Suddenly the kingfisher darted into the Tyrannosaur's mouth. Did this bird have a death wish? A little blue and white shape was bobbing around the rex's teeth pecking at them with a black beak.

"Ah! The kingfisher is cleaning the Tyrannosaur's teeth. In the wild a pterosaur, bird or even a smaller dinosaur must have done it for them. Looks like the kingfishers have taken up this role."

"Looks like we'll be saving on dental bills as well!" Bob laughed.

 **Back in Jurassic China Amelia has thought of a new plan to hunt for the Yi qi. One which involves going directly to the source…**

"With Yi living in the trees there's no point in waiting on the forest floor for them," Amelia explained as they trudged through thick fern fronds. "I have climbing equipment at the camp which we'll use to go directly to the dragon's lair."

Above several small pterosaurs shot through the trees which Phil identified as Darwinopterus. Unfortunately he could not identify the exact species though. It was a curious little pterosaur as according to Phil it had traits of both basal and advanced pterosaurs. Only if they had the means to safely rescue one or two; they would have made great residents of Prehistoric P…

Something was in camp. It seemed to be a theropod, just over half the height of a human, with a sausage shaped crest. Upon seeing them it hissed before darting off into the forest. Amelia rushed to the camp to see if it had caused any damage. One of the claws had torn the closest tent but that was it. Most probably the dinosaur was just looking at the new structures to see if there was an easy meal.

"What the hell was that thing?" Mike asked.

"I don't know," Phil replied. They all looked around shocked. Phil had always been able to identify things that they had seen. "It was a proceratosaur. What species I can't say. Too big to be a Guanlong and the crest was different."

"So we just saw an unidentified animal?" Jean asked with trepidation. Phil nodded. Worry filled every inch of Amelia's body. She had expected some time to encounter an unknown animal; every year at least a dozen new species were discovered and there were still countless remains to scrappy to formally name. Hell, Prehistoric Park even had one of them with the Hell Creek alvarezsaur! However, it was overwhelming encountering something that had not been discovered by science before. This was the first time on any mission that she had ever felt out of her depth.

"Philosaurus rex?" Mike asked. "Or Philraptor?"

"How about a name that doesn't start with my name?"

"Okay. Ameliaphilodon jeankimberlicus?" Trying to remain serious she grabbed the climbing gear and escorted them back to the forest hoping that Ameliaphilodon jeankimberlicus would not be chosen for that dinosaur's name.

They entered the heart of the forest. Mike occasionally squealed as he saw some of the big spiders which lived during the Jurassic. Every so often an earthquake would hit sending leaves spiralling from the trees. Images of Pompeii crept into her mind casting a spell of unease throughout her mind. It did cheer her up that the Tianyulong had followed them. Although she knew the actual reason why they followed them was the feeling that they would get fed easily rather than friendship which Mike had hypothesised. She had to warn him not to pet the dinosaurs: for fear of diseases like salmonella and the fact that on the back bristles was a crusty white substance.

"So me and you are climbing?" Kimberly asked solemnly. Amelia had wanted Kimberly to climb with her for three reasons: she was the only one who could, she had climbed after birds in the trees before, and Amelia hoped it would allow some bonding between the two of them.

"I've got a link up with your cameras so we can see what you see," Jean said. They began their ascent. Down below the pet carriers were scattered about which would be eventually hauled up after them when a Yi had been spotted. It was a fairly easy climb thanks to the amount of branches which ran from mid-way up the trunk allowing them good places to put their feet. All around her Amelia could hear insects buzz as they passed through the understory. Further up chirps and chirrups of arboreal dinosaurs could be heard as they started to reach the canopy. Below there was a sudden scream.

"Don't worry," Jean said through the headset. "Mike's friend just tried to bite off his finger."

"Your boyfriend's an idiot," Kimberly laughed.

"You should have seen him attract a T rex's attention by throwing stones at it."

This made the other time traveller laugh. They climbed further up their respective trees until they reached the thick branches. Some were so thick that they could easily be sat on without them breaking. Amelia managed to push her head through the leaves to just see an entire sea of dark green. Fluttering, or rather gliding, through the branches of the trees were black pigeon sized feathered birds with white stripes on the wings and tail. Upon their heads like a crown was a little bunch of brown-red feathers.

"Anchiornis," Phil said through their headsets. "We actually knew their colour because the pigmentation had been preserved. They're not very aerodynamic though compared to later relatives."

She could attest to that. They seemed to haphazardly glide to one branch from another using their forewings to manoeuvre themselves onto the correct branch or trunk. "A bit like kakapos." She heard Kimberly say. "Kakapos can't fly but they jump from trees and use their wings to guide themselves." The Anchiornis were elegant in their own way. She just hoped that it would not be long until they found the Yi…

Gold shone over the leaves by the time they first saw a scansoriopterygidae. A few were gliding from tree to tree using their bat like wings to guide them into position. They had a black body with flecks of grey, red forearms and white stripes on the face. On their hindquarters were four pencil shaped yellow feathers with bands of brown. Amelia angled the camera at the bat-like dinosaurs hoping that Phil would be able to identify which species it could be.

"By the size of them they have to be Yi," he said through the headset.

"Finally the real Chinese dragons. My plan to catch them if a bit rudimentary but…"

She pulled out the net and started to angle it towards the nearest Yi. One sat staring at the net with one claw on the right forearm clinging onto a twig. Just as she was going to net the dinosaur it bit hold of the net with its tiny jaws and pulled. Amelia tried to pull back but she was at a serious disadvantage compared to the arboreal animal. The net flew out of her hands to crash through the branches of the trees below.

"How did you catch those other animals?" Kimberly asked with a smirk. "I've got a plan if…"

Suddenly the entire forest started shaking, leaves came spiralling from the branches and black bat-like pterosaurs flew from the forest in fear. Both of them were violently shaken about by the tremor and Amelia could hear the crack of the trunk as the equipment struggled to keep them her close to tree. A scream came from the other tree as Kimberly's equipment briefly came lose sending her falling downwards, splinters flying all over the place as she fell. Thankfully the equipment was firmly secured further down the tree or otherwise Kimberly would have continued plummeting. As the harness caught hold further down the tree Kimberly bounced off of the trunk painfully sending the wind shooting from her body. Fearfully she cried down at the other time traveller.

"Shit! Goddammit! I'm fine!" she yelled.

 **Outsmarted by a tiny dinosaur and scuppered by an earthquake the team have to return to present. However, they aren't empty handed.**

Bob watched the portal open. A dishevelled Kimberly and Amelia walked through with a grumpy looking Mike following suit. For some reason Phil and Jean came through the portal backward, each holding a fern leaf. He smiled seeing that several small dinosaurs with what looked like mohicans running down their back. Something like a dried white paste covered the back bristles of the adult dinosaurs. They made cute chirping noises as they followed the lush ferns.

"No Yi but what are these?"

"Tianyulong," Amelia replied glumly. "Kimberly has a plan to rescue some Yi though."

A few hours later Kimberly's plan had started to be put in place. She had got the plan from when tracking wild kea with her father years back. Sometimes the kea refused to come down from the trees so he had created a little plan to coax the kea from the trees. Here all they had to do was apply her father's idea to a much larger tree. A pet carrier had a camera attached to the top as well as a mechanism which could control the gate of the pet carrier. Her father's was more rudimentary lacking a camera and relying only on a piece of rope to close the gate but Prehistoric Park's far greater resources would allow them to create a few for Yi catching. The park's main engineer, Yousef Al-dawa, had managed to attach a camera, a sensor and a remote mechanism onto the gate to effectively catch a Yi.

"I thought we could test it out with a different extinct animal," Kimberly said.

"Kimberly if this works I could kiss you."

 **Armed with top-notch technology from the twenty-first century the team are ready to catch a Yi and they won't come back until they can rescue a few.**

As they emerged through the portal the earth rumbled once more. Eager to get away Amelia placed the portal sticks where they were, (by the river as before), before they marched through to the central area of the forest carrying the upgraded carriers. Now not distracted by Tianyulong they got there far quicker. When they arrived Amelia had everyone to start filling the cages with grubs taken from the park, (something that Kimberly was reluctant to do). She would have to get used to that if she wished to properly get involved in the missions, although she did admire the fact that Kimberly did it regardless of her hatred of the worms. When the cages were properly filled they attached the cages to the rigging from earlier, as well as the ones set up just now, and proceeded to pull a chain sending the open carriers into the tree branches.

"Our sensors should pick up when an Anchiornis enters the carrier," Jean said looking at the electronic device in his hands. "Maybe it could attract an Epidexipteryx or a Scansoriopteryx."

Not long after they had several pet carriers swaying in the wind among the tree branches. Amelia just hoped this would work; if they could catch a few Anchiornis then it was a higher possibility that they could rescue a few Yi. In only another five minutes the first sensors went off. On Jean's screen a pigeon sized Anchiornis could be seen nosing the grubs in the carrier. Quickly he pressed the button and the carrier closed trapping the dinosaur. They all cheered and Amelia hugged Kimberly. Within the next hour all the carriers had a squawking Anchiornis inside.

"Let's get them back to the park so we can prepare for the Yi," Amelia said.

 **As the Anchiornis was being prepared for their new life away from a volcano on the verge of erupting park vet Suzanne has noticed something very peculiar about the Tianyulong.**

In the holding pens the Tianyulong were happily eating a clump of ferns with various small chunks of meat strewn in. Overall they were in good health for a wild animal: bit under average weight, some signs of stress but otherwise in full health. They didn't even show signs of parasites. That wasn't what worried her though; the dry, flaky substance on the bristles of the adults was what worried her. For the last ten minutes she had been running a scan on the substance, (thank goodness for Shinchoku Co.'s immensely efficient computers), to see if it had any matches. DNA comparisons to the Tianyulong itself had shown that it was not produced by the dinosaurs themselves but something else.

"It's came up that the pasty substance is from an invertebrate. I'm just worried in case it's from a parasite or from a bite."

The computer took another few minutes to produce any results. "Huh…It's dried toxins from a myriapod, like a millipede or a centipede. That is a clever defence mechanism. Several animals do something called self-anointing, where they smear themselves in a toxic or foul smelling substance or liquid. Hedgehogs have been known to do this as an example. Tianyulong seems to do this with the toxins produced by myriapods. I noticed their bristles also had urine on them. They have a very disgusting and toxic defence mechanism."

Just as she was going to contact Bob to move the Tianyulong to their new enclosure Morarji's voice came over her headset. Apparently the time travellers had brought back several bird-like dinosaurs that need to be checked over…

 **Meanwhile, dusk has descended on Jurassic China and with it the possibility of rescuing a Yi or two.**

Gold shone through the trunks of the trees. This signalled the time travellers to pull the carriers back up into the treetops. Amelia had only allowed one more group of Anchiornis being rescued through fear of scaring off the Yi later on in the day as well as the possibility of using all their grubs up on Anchiornis. Already she spotted a few bat shaped silhouettes glide through several tree trunks. Hopefully this would allow them to rescue a few Yi.

"We've got one!" Jean cried. On his screen she saw that a wyvern dinosaur was happily tucking into the grubs completely oblivious that it was in a carrier. Quickly Jean pressed a button and the door closed behind the dinosaur which squawked in distress. Kimberly pulled on the chain and the carrier came slowly down the side of the tree. When the carrier landed on the forest floor with a soft thud the counterweight fell to the earth with it. Everyone was eager to see the Yi up close. The short bristles on the wings, the bright yellow tail feathers which were being thrusted in the air for a defence display, the blue eyes and sharp teeth in the small mouth.

"Let's rescue a few others to join you little guy," Phil cooed at the squawking dinosaur which seemed to wish nothing more than to get out of the carrier. By the time the golden sky gave away to a black starry sky all the carriers contained a Yi. Happy with their haul they headed back to the portal. Hopefully they could set up the traps again to rescue another bunch of Yi. As they reached the riverside someone opened the portal, all bar Kimberly, (who still loathed the strange feeling of going through the portal), welcomed the sight of the shimmering blue vortex.

Suddenly the ground underneath shook and the front of the volcano burst in a horrific blast of thick rock and dark, black ash. Shit! It was a goddamn pyroclastic flow.

 **The fossils at the Tiaojishan formation were so well preserved thanks to pyroclastic flows like this one. They are caused by volcanic eruptions and are made of boiling hot volcanic ash and rock reaching temperatures of one thousand degrees Celsius. Reaching speeds of 700km/hour the team do not have long to get through the portal.**

"Quick!" Jean yelled.

She could see the ash bulldoze the forest as easily as someone knocking over dominoes. Roaring ash consumed the green creating a hell on Earth. The noise was like a million explosions and a million anguished screams which scared the life out of her. Inside the carriers the Yi screeched in fear. Frantically she ran to the portal, a carrier in each hand, feeling her legs scream in protest. Mike vanished through, then Jean and then Phil. She felt the portal hit her and the roar of the pyroclastic flow vanished in favour of the strange whirring noise of the portal. Where was Kimberly though? Through the portal she could see a distorted shape ambling about. Cursing herself she ran back through the portal to see her colleague stumbling with her carriers. Without hesitation she pulled Kimberly up, grabbed one of the carriers, and dragged her through the portal. As soon as they were through the portal shut off just as some hot ash fell through as well.

"Holy shit Amelia you saved me!" Kimberly cried embracing Amelia.

"What did you expect me to do, let you become a fossil?" They both burst into relieved laughter.

 **With the narrow escape from the volcanic eruption Prehistoric Park can finally welcome its first extinct residents of the aviary to their new home.**

The Tiaojishan Forest area of the aviary was a buzz with activity. A path went from the bottom of some trees and spiralled up a walkway all the way up to the canopy of the trees. Of course guests in the future, and current staff members, could not reach over to the trees, although they did have a good view of the forest. Due to the hubbub of moving the dinosaurs from the past to the present both the Yi and the Anchiornis were awake at the moment. The Tianyulong had an enclosure outside the aviary after it was found out they could bite and smeared their bristles with toxins or urine. Hidden in the trees though was a platform for keepers to keep a close look at the animals. Currently Amelia was looking at three of the male Yi, (Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal), eating some grubs. She looked at her book about the next mission's subject. It had been a while since she last went scuba diving…

 **Rescued this chapter:**

10 Yi qi 6 male, 4 female

20 Anchiornis huxleyi 10 male, 10 female

5 Tianyulong confuciusi 2 male, 3 female

 **Seen but not rescued:**

Darwinopterus (unknown species)

Jeholopterus ninchengensis

Fenghuangopterus lii

Monoglarachne jurassica

Unknown proceratosaur

 **Trivia:**

 **1\. The Tianyulong self-anointing is based on something I saw on Deviantart.**

 **2\. I am a very big fan of Game of Thrones and the books it is based on so that is why the three seen have those names.**

 **3\. This mission was going to be either for Microraptor or Confuciusornis but I thought the unusual Yi should be the subject.**

 **4\. The proceratosaur is made up by me. For a while I wanted to create a fictional creature and as Guanlong lived on the other side of China at this time I thought a proceratosaur would be appropriate.**

 **5\. I did debate rescuing Monoglarachne but the difficulties in transporting a Jurassic invertebrate made me scrap this idea.**

 **6\. The internet joke is indeed Yee.**


	16. Mission 9- Cambrian Oddity

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and a palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **On this next mission the team will travel back farther than they've ever gone before. They plan to rescue a bizarre aquatic predator from the seas of Canada and China.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 9- Cambrian Oddity**

 **Prehistoric Park, the ultimate wildlife sanctuary, now holds just over thirty extinct animals ranging from the golden toad which went extinct just a few years ago to the Columbian mammoth to the Tyrannosaurus. However, today the team plans to rescue something far older than anything they have at the park so far.**

Bob checked the temperature gage at the side of the tank. It was at the perfect temperature for the target of the upcoming mission, but it was not perfect for practically anything else living outside either the Artic during the summer. At just over five degrees Celsius it was a very cold tank. It had been programmed to change temperatures to coincide with the time of year. _Why couldn't they have done this rescue mission during the heat wave?_ It would have been lovely lounging about in the cold empty tank while they were gallivanting off trying to find some manner of obscure, weird monster from the past. Although, he did actually know why it took so long to start this mission: getting a marine animal to the park. That hurdle had been crossed now which meant that they could finally get around to this mission.

"Christ it's cold in there," Kimberly said as she pulled her hand from the salt water. She was definitely right in that respect.

"It has to be. Our next creature came from a time when the world's seas were cold; in fact it was killed off by rising global temperatures at the end of the Cambrian," Phil explained. The file he had showed a very strange looking animal: a cigar shaped body surrounded by plates running across the side of the body, some more plates sticking upwards at could be assumed to be the tail, a pair of eyes on stalks, and two curled appendages at the front. Above the picture _'Anomalocaris'_ was written. "The Anomalocaris: the Bizarre Predator of the Cambrian."

 **Anomalocaris lived during the first half of the Cambrian over 505 million years ago. During this period the Earth was mostly covered in water, no life lived on the land, the world was colder and the air had thirty-seven percent less oxygen. In this hellish wold the Anomalocaris swam through the seas.**

"We were planning to go to two sites," Amelia explained flicking through pages of the file. "One in Canada called the Burgess Shale which happens to be one of the richest fossil sites in the world and the other is the Maotianshan Shale in China. Anomalocaris were found at both. There's been much debate about how they ate in recent years and we were hoping by rescuing two species it could conclusively solve this issue. Look here." She passed over a few pages from the file. One was a close up showing the eyes while the other showed front appendages. "These eyes had about 16,000 lenses, so in a world where most things ate detritus something with this good eyesight would be a predator. Not to mention its gut was found to be that suitable for a carnivorous diet. However…" She pushed forward the page showing a detailed 3D scan of the circular mouth. "The mouth doesn't have wear patterns which would indicate ripping apart shells to eat the contents inside. Hopefully we'll found out today."

 **The mission to the Cambrian requires a whole new plan for Prehistoric Park. With all life living in the oceans you need something special to rescue them…**

The _Coelacanth_ rocked gently on the waves. She was a former whale watching boat, named _Cecilia_ , until her captain was tempted by Hiroshi Komon's offer to travel around the world, (with a regular paycheque), tempted him to the Nga Rara islands. It was also lucky that Bashir Imil Yusuf had been an ardent supporter of Greenpeace so talk of 'protecting aquatic animals' made him eager for the job. Amelia just wished that she had been there when he saw Charles the Triceratops and realised there was more to this job than initially imagined.

She liked Bashir. He oddly reminded her of Phil if Phil was in his late-thirties and from the UAE; both had a boyish charm, a sense of adventures and both had been too caught up in their own little adventures to settle down. Bashir also had a very impressive beard and a body reminiscent to that of a welterweight boxer, (something which Phil lacked). Their captain jovially greeted them by either shaking them firmly by the hand, or slapping them on the back while saying phrases such as _'ready for an adventure my friend'_ and _'a good ship for a good adventure together'_. At the end of the pier were two portal sticks which then activated allowing the blue portal to hover just over the water's surface. As this was happening Bashir had gone to the helm to send them through the portal, (all the while Kimberly was forcing Jean to re-enact a famous scene from a famous film about a famous ship at the bow). With much applause from the staff watching from the pier they slipped through into the Cambrian.

"Fucking hell!" Kimberly yelled. Although Amelia wouldn't have used those exact words she felt they were accurate. The Anomalocaris would die out thanks to rising global temperatures but for now it remained firmly on the colder side. Icy mist escaped from her mouth with every breath of air and prickles ran across her arms from the cold. From the boat she could see a plain, dead land. It was as if a nuclear bomb had gone off killing all life in the vicinity and all that remained were ashes.

"Let's get below; I'm freezing my…well, everything off here!" Amelia said out of breath. She had thought the Devonian's lack of oxygen was hard to handle but that was nothing compared to this. Eagerly all those who had been on the top of the boat descended down below. Below deck was literally a breath of fresh air. It had more oxygen and was thankfully warm. Mike had been wiser than the rest of them, (for once), and had opted to stay below deck as they passed through the time portal. They had managed to deck the room out with everything that was needed to hunt for sea monsters: several screens which would link to the cameras of the scuba divers, a radar, a screen linking to the cameras on the bottom of the boat, several empty glass tanks, and all the equipment needed to go scuba diving.

"Well the Burgess Shale hasn't made a good first impression!" Phil laughed. Kimberly said something under her breath which sounded like _freezing_ and a curse word rhyming with _pits_. "I can't scuba dive and neither can Jean so you three will go in for us."

"You see your Anomalocaris just holler and I'll catch it for you!" Bashir interjected.

With Bashir needed aboard deck, and Jean and Phil not knowing how to scuba dive that left Amelia, Kimberly and Mike to plunge into the depths of the Burgess Shale. Luckily Hiroshi had them well equipped for diving in Cambrian waters: durable drysuits with silicone sealing systems which kept both the water and the cold out (mostly), life-support systems which resisted the cold, heated undergarments, and Shinchoku Co.'s new body gel which helped reduce heat loss. For fear of causing Mike to have a heart attack Amelia and Kimberly applied the gel out of his eyesight. Instead of a normal mask and breathing apparatus they had an all-in-one version developed by Shinchoku Co., (on Mars no less), which allowed them to talk freely. _Just don't bad mouth each other because you are all on the same system!_ The park engineer had warned. Dressed up in their wetsuits they entered the water.

"Don't dive straight under; swim about occasionally submerging yourself so your body gets used to the temperature," the cold-water diving instructor had warned them. They spent the next few minutes bobbing around the surface with it only being broken by occasional brief dives under the Cambrian waves. When this happened Amelia eagerly looked around for Cambrian life but the trips down below were too short to see anything. Eventually their bodies got accustomed to the water. Although not exactly as warm as the waters of the Caribbean the time in the water, on top of the insulation, kept them slightly warm. One by one they dived under the water.

She hadn't expected a Cambrian reef to look spectacular; however, she was totally wrong. Where the land had been desolate and lifeless the ocean was full of life. Various brightly coloured, strangely shaped corals, sponges and anemones created a primitive forest under the waves. Scattered throughout the corals were some of the most bizarre invertebrates that she had ever seen: woodlouse like black trilobites scurrying through the sands, swarms of green and pink arthropods crawling over the reef, jellyfish swum in the open ocean, a few worm like creatures walking on tentacles with spikes in the back, and even a worm poking its burrow in the sand.

"At the start of the Cambrian there was a huge jump in evolution called the Cambrian Explosion. We can see exactly why here," her voice reverberated in her helmet. She noticed that some of the corals had lost their colour becoming a deathly white. "Look this coral's bleached."

 **Coral reefs are very susceptible to even the slightest changes in sea temperatures. This causes them to bleach. Without the corals the food of the Anomalocaris vanishes. Unfortunately global warming is doing the same to our corals.**

She was just glad that Bob had allowed them free reign to rescue several unexpected species. Anomalocaris was the largest thing by far to live at the Burgess Shale so any unexpected marine life were small, which in turn meant easy to transport and hold. Within the next few years the coral would have vanished meaning that almost all the life here would lose their habitat. Although that would have to wait for later; right now what was most important was seeing if there were any Anomalocaris nearby.

"What are these?" she heard Kimberly's voice come through her headset jammed into her helmet. She was glad it was waterproof or otherwise she would have gotten a serious electrical shock. Kimberly had swum close to one of the weird worms walking on tentacles with spikes on the back. The spikes were red in colour while the body itself was a dark blue.

"Hallucigenia. Imagine them as the sea urchins of the Cambrian," Phil's voice came through the headset.

After their quick look at the Hallucigenia she looked around the reef. On closer inspection the reef seemed rather sparse, and there seemed to be far more ghostly white corals than there were brightly coloured ones. Bashir came through the headset telling them that on the radar that something had come up on the radar. Judging by how small most of the life they had seen so far was, (the Hallucigenia could have easily sat on her pinkie finger), if something appeared on the radar it had to be Anomalocaris. They started swimming slowly towards the place where the blip on the radar had been. Now that they had spent some time in the water it had started to seem less biting cold than it had done before. It was somewhat pleasant swimming through the reef seeing the odd spectacle of life. Phil managed to identify some of the life which they saw: the trilobites were a species of Oryctocephalus, (which species they couldn't tell yet), a shrimp like arthropod was a Canadaspis, and the tiny scuttling, green and pink arthropods were Burgess Shale's most common animal, the Marrella.

"Wait is that it?" Mike asked. Further up ahead a very strange looking creature was swimming low over the reef. It had a thin red-yellow body surrounded by pale red overlapping lobes, a pair of compound eyes on stalks, a fan-shaped tail made of the same lobes, what seemed to be lamella on the top of each lobe, and a pair of curved appendages resembling pineapple rings with barbs sticking out of them. The creature swam much like a cuttlefish with the lobes moving in a Mexican wave.

"That is Anomalocaris," she replied.

 **Meanwhile, back at the park, Morarji and Suzanne are helping a park resident move home.**

This was the first time that a resident of Prehistoric Park would be moved to a new exhibit. Considering how little they knew about extinct animals it had been nothing short of miraculous that no other animal had to have a massive overhaul of their enclosures before this time. Even more miraculously was the reason why they were moving the Tianyulong into the aviary. It had nothing to do with their initial enclosure being incorrect. Instead, the park's architect had found a way to keep the Jurassic Chinese dinosaurs together; a short wall would corner off part of the aviary which would allow the Tianyulong to settle in. Morarji was leading this dinosaur relocation with Bob's attention being focused on helping Saqui the mammoth's rehabilitation.

"This aviary has perfect conditions for the Jurassic Chinese dinosaurs so the Tianyulong should settle down here," he said to the camera crew.

 **Prehistoric Park has a Tianyulong family rescued just before a volcanic eruption ripped through their forest home 160 million years ago.**

"Lower them in gently," he ordered as a carrier was dropped behind the brick wall. It sat on a downward slope so when the door to the carrier was opened the first Tianyulong tumbled out. He chirruped before hopping off into the bush. The other Tianyulong exited the carrier much more carefully. One of the Anchiornis glided down from their treetop home to inspect the new Tianyulong which inhabited their forest, albeit with a much more heavily restricted habitat.

"Those Anchiornis were a pain building this enclosure. They kept stealing the tools!" he laughed. Well, that an understatement. The Anchiornis was one of the most intelligent dinosaurs in the park and were very inquisitive. Within a day they had lost their initial trepidation around humans to both the love and frustration of their keepers. Just like the modern day kea they liked to be in the middle of the action stealing everything from worker's tools to keeper's lunches. One Anchiornis was currently playfully snapping at the boom mic. Meanwhile, the Yi had hardly been seen preferring to stick to the aviary's canopy, and even then they would only venture from their nests from dusk until dawn.

"Look that Tianyulong is going into the burrow," Suzanne said. That was a relief. If the Tianyulong rejected their burrow in the aviary that would mean completely redoing the enclosure, something difficult to do with the inquisitive Anchiornis flying about. Now with that issue sorted his next big task awaited him: offering an escort to the keepers in _Triceratops Creek_. Damn things weren't the most placid of animals…

 **Meanwhile, back in the Burgess Shale the team have to solve the mystery of how the Anomalocaris ate before they can rescue one or two for the park.**

Their first look at how the Anomalocaris ate did not take long. It turned out that the theory that Anomalocaris ripped open trilobites with its appendages and mouth, and the theory that they were filter-feeders were both correct, and incorrect, simultaneously. The metre long sea monster seemed to have all manners of small, soft-bodied creatures stuck in the frills on the appendages only to be sucked into the maw on the underside of the head.

"So that means it must be a filter-feeder…" she started. Just then another Anomalocaris swooped in and grabbed a pale looking trilobite scuttling on the sandy floor. However, instead of tearing into it with the mouth it instead started flexing the pale trilobite with its appendages. Suddenly the trilobite snapped in half and the suction mouth brought the innards of the arthropod into the monster's mouth.

"See it was a sea monster!" Mike cried through his mask. She noticed how he started to swim a bit back from the two monsters who were now circling each other territorially. That must be another reason why they had good eyesight… Something was bugging her though. The trilobite brutally ripped in two seemed much lighter than the others they had earlier seen. Despite protests from the others she swam to one half of the trilobite. Narrowly avoiding the Anomalocaris' killer appendages she grabbed hold of the trilobite. It seemed too thin to be a regular shell of a trilobite though.

"Phil, are trilobites arthropods or are they something earlier?" she asked.

"They're arthropods." That confirmed her theory: the Anomalocaris had targeted a trilobite undergoing ecdysis. "In order to grow arthropods have to shed their exoskeletons and before their new shells develop they are extremely soft. Anomalocaris must utilise this!"

"I have a theory Amelia," Jean said through her headset from the warmth of the boat. "It might help us catch an Anomalocaris."

Within minutes they were back on the boat, (mostly as it offered warmth). The three scuba divers sat buried among soft towels holding cups of some warm liquid, they didn't particularly cared what it was, as they prepared to listen to Jean's theory. As he was speaking she watched the steam pour from her cup with an extreme amount of love. "Anomalocaris had good eyes, which Amelia's said is good to spot rivals, which is all well and good, but, isn't it too big of an evolutionary leap to have such good eyes to spot rivals? Notice also how that Anomalocaris only attacked the moulting trilobite…"

"The other was filtering smaller animals as well!" Phil said excitedly. "That means they must eat moulting trilobites and when there's no moulting ones they must filter-feed."

"That's why they're territorial!" Amelia replied. "Arthropods have lots of nutrients so each Anomalocaris must want to keep a monopoly over the trilobites!"

"And there're different types of trilobite as well so there's always a bunch of moulting ones!" Kimberly interjected. "We can use that to our advantage; make our own trilobites to attract an Anomalocaris," Bashir replied.

"Anomalocaris are big," Mike said. They all looked at him blankly. "What? I wanted to contribute."

 **Could making their own trilobites help catch an Anomalocaris?**

Calling it a trilobite was a big stretch of the imagination. To Amelia it was a crudely cardboard cut-out chocked full of fish guts. Hopefully, the Anomalocaris would just assume it was a half-dead trilobite, if it survived entry in the water. From the deck Bashir fired the sea portal into the cold, Cambrian ocean. The ocean portal comprised of two buoys with sticks attached to chains at the bottom of the buoys. Another splash signalled Mike's entry into the water with the first of the trilobite decoys. Through the screens in the boat she could see him swim in between the two bouys.

"Why the hell do I have to be here?" he asked.

"Simple. Fastest swimmer."

As the corals were bleaching, taking the regular food source of the Anomalocaris with it, it did not take long to get the first bite. One formidable looking sea monster swam towards the crumbling trilobite floating near Mike; the fact that he was there seemed not to deter the Anomalocaris. As it come closer and closer, lobes dancing elegantly in the water, Mike started to back through where the portal would emerge with the deteriorating cardboard decoy. Just as the Anomalocaris was on him the portal whirled open sending it through.

"I'll need a new decoy!" he said gesturing to the loose fish guts which comprised the decoy. Within minutes a second decoy was made. "Jesus Christ!" he yelled. Through the screen she could see why he was yelling. Two Anomalocaris had been attracted to the fish guts and both wanted it desperately. They angrily tried to grasp one another with their appendages as they swam past each other. It was like a dogfight between two pilots desperate for each other's blood. They clashed against one another until a stream of black flew from the upper body of one of the Anomalocaris. It backed off causing a stream of black to billow after it. The victorious Anomalocaris swam towards Mike to only vanish through the newly opened portal.

"Mike try and attract it," Kimberly said. "It's injured so won't be able to compete properly."

"I'm not going after tha…Christ!" The injured Anomalocaris had suddenly turned one hundred and eighty degrees to face Mike. Upon seeing that its opponent had vanished it must have decided to take its chance with the fictional trilobite. Just like the opponent it too vanished through to the safety of Prehistoric Park.

"Why are so many Anomalocaris in such a small area if they're so competitive?" Kimberly asked.

"The reef's dying. While in Kenya I saw loads of lion prides congregate at just one water hole. Same thing's happening here; fewer resources push them all together. Now let's rescue some smaller animals."

The cold still struck her. It bit through her like a knife going through flesh. The sooner they did this the better in her opinion. Just as she and Kimberly fully submerged themselves several weighted tanks were dropped in after them. Bubbles streamed around the tanks as they sunk to the bottom of the Burgess Shale seabed. A chain soon followed the tank sending more bubbles streaming to the freezing surface. It would be a relatively simple plan: pick up or net some invertebrates and put them in the tank. Each had a small net useful for catching smaller animals. Mike was in charge of netting the Oryctocephalus, Kimberly the Marrella, and Amelia the Hallucigenia. Her task, in her opinion, was the most difficult thanks to the sharp spikes on the Hallucigenia's back.

"Bugger!" she yelled as one red spike pricked her finger. She breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that it hadn't drew blood; quite possibly the Hallucigenia's spines were tipped with venom like some sea urchins. The Hallucigenia were only three centimetres long so that was something she could exploit. Gently, she scooped the sand underneath the little animal and just as gently placed it in the tank. The Hallucigenia hardly moved as she did this which led to the conclusion that this was the best method to capture them. When her tank was full Amelia grabbed hold of a chain before attaching to the side of the tank. Tugging twice on the chain it slowly started to surface. In the end they had an impressive haul: a tank of Hallucigenia, two tanks of Marrella, and a tank of Oryctocephalus. Satisfied they brought the buoys back in and fired off a new set. The old boys went to the holding pens in the aquarium whereas the new set went to the decks; it was a bit of a walk to the aquarium to transport the tanks but it was far easier than moving the boat back to the docks, (especially as the boat would take out a chunk of the holding pens themselves).

 **While this is happening, park vet Suzanne has to deal with the issue of an injured Anomalocaris. This Cambrian predator is prickly at the best of times, thanks to their territorial nature, and being injured hasn't improved this one's mood.**

It just refused to remain still. Thank god the holding pen was two metres cubed or otherwise she doubted she would have been able to check up on the injured Anomalocaris. Not even dropping half some brine shrimps into a corner of the pen had attracted the proto-arthropod to her area to be checked up on. _Must be that good eyesight._ A barb from the other Anomalocaris had forced itself in between the plates on the back.

"I've put a coagulation lotion in the water so its condition has improved but I need to remove that barb. If I remove it the Anomalocaris will be able to moult and heal properly." Then she had an idea. "I have some sedatives which should help."

Not only would she be able to remove the bard without distressing the Anomalocaris if it was a bit sedated but, also, it would be sluggish. After measuring a good amount she poured it into the water. Fairly rapidly the sedatives took hold. With its senses dulled it was relatively easy to coax the Anomalocaris to the side. Gently using a pillar and knife she slowly started to remove the lodged barb from between the plates. All the while the Anomalocaris bobbed in the water. Suddenly the barb gave way and flew from the body sending ink black blood flying from the wound. In her hands the inch long barb looked scarily sharp.

"Excellent. I'll place some disinfectant around the wound and some coagulants and we should…" She burst into hysterics. Bob had come round the corner dripping head to toe. Droplets of water streamed down the side of his face from his bushy moustache. "There's better ways to get cool Bob!"

"I fell in trying to move one! The others have already gone off to get some more! The Chinese species best not be like this one, the one I fell in with almost took a chunk out of me!"

 **Although on the other side of the world the Maotianshan Shales of China, 520 million years ago, hold an equally similar bizarre range of life as the Burgess Shale. As in Cambrian Canada Cambrian China the Anomalocaris ruled the roost.**

It was so strange how similar Canada and China were despite being so different during the time she had come from. Over five hundred million years in the future Yunnan would be rolling, subtropical highlands with cool lakes breaking up the landscape whereas British Columbia would be dominated by purple headed mountains, snows in the winter and the golden sun in the summer. The Cambrian was different. Yunnan and British Columbia were the same here: icy cold, low oxygen, a dead land and corals full of life below the never ending waves.

"It was nice having those tanks on the wall," Kimberly's sigh had broken her trail of thought. "Gave it a bit of atmosphere."

"I'll have to put my pet fish in here then!" Bashir laughed as a reply. That would be a sight; Bashir's fish coming gill to gill with their ancestors. The screens showing the Maotianshan Shale reef portrayed a similar, but simultaneously different, scene to that of the Burgess Shale. Like before the trilobites scurried through seabed, some Hallucigenia with tinier spikes than before could be seen when the camera was zoomed very much in, and green spiked sponge-like invertebrates littered the landscape. However, two Anomalocaris seemed to be disinterested in the trilobites; even the moulting ones. Instead they swam through a large shimmering orb with their appendages outstretched.

"Only the Canadian species has been found to conclusively eat the trilobites before today," Phil told her after she had showed him the screen. "That might be why eats fewer trilobites."

"I'll have to find out why."

Fifteen million years seemed to have no effect on the water. She could tell, however, that it was colder. None of the sea life seemed to mind this distinction between Burgess Shale and Maotianshan Shale temperatures. _Who would have thought that southern China would be colder than Canada?_ Bashir had shot the buoys close to the Anomalocaris which, incidentally, were close to the shimmering orb. Like their Canadian counterparts the Chinese Anomalocaris did not seem inclined to share with them angrily waving their appendages at each other as they got too close to one another. One was larger than the other and had dark brown spots against a white body while the smaller one had light brown spots instead.

"Guys can you see this?" she asked in wonder. The orb was in fact a shoal. A shoal of knife shaped silver fish. Thousands upon thousands of these fish half the size of a little finger swam in a protective circle. One got separated from the shoal and quick as a flash Amelia caught it in her small net which dwarfed the fish. Strangely the fish was see-through with her being able to see all the tiny internal organs. Through the thin skin she could see a little pale white backbone running under the dorsal fin.

"I can't believe it; this must be one of the first backboned animals!"

"I'll try and identify it," Phil said on the other line. "Hold it up to your camera. Closer, that's a girl. Now put your hand near it, for size reference. Zhongxiniscus, one of the earliest backboned animals. So early they lack a jaw."

 _Just like a lamprey._ "It's amazing. Zhongxiniscus is considered the link between the extremely primitive Cathaymyrus and the more advanced Haikouichthys." _Making it perfect for Prehistoric Park_. If the Anomalocaris were eating these little fish then they would easily follow them through. For one a rescue mission seemed to be easy: the Zhongxiniscus were next to the portal. "Let's open the portal."

The portal whirred open and some of the fish vanished through as they tried to weave away from the Anomalocaris. The rest of the shoal ducked away further towards the coral. Soon after the sharp eyed larger predator followed through and not wanting to miss a meal the second followed. "I think that was our easiest rescue yet!"

 **With some Anomalocaris saved it is time to go home.**

 _Cambrian Coast_ was a pleasant area for the denizens from the Burgess and Maotianshan Shales to call their new home. However, it was freezing. Amelia could feel goose bumps creep along her arms. If anything the _Cambrian Coast_ exhibit in the aquarium, _Tides of Time_ , got the temperature of the Cambrian spot on. Most of the _Coast_ consisted of three large tanks: one for the Burgess Anomalocaris, one for the Maotianshan, and one for the other rescued animals. Unlike in their old homes each Anomalocaris had their own reef to ferociously guard to ensure there were fewer clashes over territory. The final tank had the ancient fish swimming peacefully around as Marrella, trilobites and Hallucigenia went about their lives as if they hadn't been uprooted from their homes in the Cambrian. In fact, the Burgess invertebrates seemed to be flourishing in the colder temperatures.

"I thought you hated the cold living in Kenya?" a voice asked her. Graham was busy rubbing his arms clearly not expecting the cold of the _Cambrian Coast_. He looked intently at a Burgess Anomalocaris swim through the water picking up assorted fish guts with its barbs. "First giant lobed fish and salamanders, and now these odd things."

"I like to keep everyone on their toes. We were thinking of doing another mission to both the Burgess and Maotianshan Shales; you should have seen it, everything was so unique! You got some time off; me and Mike were planning to go for a stroll. You wanna come?"

"Sorry got some stuff to deal with. Like how to get vehicles in an enclosure with an angry Triceratops. I have a message from Igor though. He said he's done those upgrades on that plane for you…"

 **Rescued this chapter:**

3 Anomalocaris canadensis 2 male, 1 female

2 Anomalocaris saron 1 male, 1 female

15 Oryctocephalus burgessensis 7 male, 8 female

20 Hallucigenia sparsa (possibly hermaphrodites)

23 Marrella splendens 12 male, 11 female

132 Zhongxiniscus intermedius (indeterminate number of each)

 **Seen but not rescued:**

Various corals, anemones and sponges

Burgess Shale jellyfish (indeterminate species)

Kuanyangia pustulosa

Paradoxides (indeterminate species)

Hallucigenia fortis

Ottoica prolificus

Wiwaxia taijiangensis

Canadaspis perfecta

 **Trivia:**

 **1\. Originally this mission was only going to be in the Burgess Shale but I decided to add the Maotianshan Shale to advertise a story by Drew Luczynzski and Nathanoraptor called Prehistoric Earth. The first mission in their story is to this area so I thought it would be a good way to advertise their story.**

 **2\. The name of the aquarium was chosen by DaDog.**

 **3\. The name of the boat was chosen by Mortal's Friend.**

 **4\. I had read several theories about Anomalocaris' diet which made me want to do this mission. Anomalocaris primarily filter-feeding and taking advantage of soft-bodied trilobites is my opinion in how they ate.**

 **Notes:**

 **After much deliberation I have decided to cancel One Long Day. There are three main reasons why: the first is I don't believe it is very good, I feel it is too much like Jurassic Park, and I don't have much urge to write it. The events of One Long Day are still canon, the only change is that One Long Day is now set in 2020 instead of 2021, and the rest of One Long Day will be explained in my next project as a part of A New World which I'll explain.**

 **I plan to do two projects alongside the missions. One is a story set around Prehistoric Park which I'm still working on. The other is what I'll call Park Stories. Park Stories is set between 2020 and 2025 and will focus on aspects of Prehistoric Park and the world that it inhabits. As I'm not taking requests with this series I've felt that there's been less discussion so this is a way for us to discuss things once more. If you have questions about Prehistoric Park after it has opened to the public, (excluding asking questions about if there are future missions after the park's opened), I shall try and answer them in Park Stories. The ones about individual species, like the Dakotaraptor, or certain buildings/attractions, like the aquarium, I'll put extracts from the in-universe Prehistoric Park website at the start. The rest of One Long Day will be explained in Park Stories.**

 **TL;DR One Long Day's being cancelled, being replaced with a new section called Park Stories and a story being worked on. When the first chapter of each is being published I can't say at the moment.**


	17. Mission 10- Junggar Basin Wing

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and a palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **This time they plan to venture into the skies of early Cretaceous China to rescue a flying reptile.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 10- Junggar Basin Wing**

 **Prehistoric Park is currently preparing for the tenth rescue mission and this time they are using a new toy to help rescue an animal which spent much of its time in the air…**

"We have a plane?" Kimberly asked in shock. Amelia didn't both correcting her. Although it was not a plane the eGull 2000 ultralight would do the same job while being more versatile, quieter and being lighter. It was excusable seen as everyone, (including herself), had been colloquially referring to it as a plane. On the side of the ultralight underneath the Prehistoric Park logo was the name of the ultralight: _The Teratornis_. So far it was the only aircraft at Prehistoric Park; eventually the rangers would get a helicopter in case of emergencies although that was way into the future. Currently the only aircraft was attached by some rope to the back of the jeep, if it was any heavier and it could easily have taken off the back bumper of the jeep when they tried to drag it.

"It is a good thing Igor and Yousef got this ready in time," Hiroshi said rubbing his hands inspecting the ultralight. "What would you have done if it wasn't ready for this mission?"

"Improvise. We had a backup mission," Phil replied nonchalantly. Indeed they did. Who knew Australia had been cold during the Cretaceous? After the Cambrian mission though Amelia was glad they were going someplace warm instead of the biting cold.

"What is it that you're planning to bring for me today?"

"Throughout the Mesozoic era a group of archosaurs flew above the heads of the dinosaurs. The pterosaurs."

"We're really going after pterodactyls?" Mike asked. Phil shook his head. "Sorry Mike but the media has caused confusion once again. Pterodactyl only refers to one genus of pterosaurs, Pterodactylus. We're going for a pterosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. Look here." He pulled out his file which had a photo of a strange crested pterosaur and a map of China with the Xinjiang region in the far west being highlighted. "We're going to rescue the Dsungaripterus from the Junggar Basin."

 **The Dsungaripterus was an unusual Cretaceous pterosaur. Most pterosaurs either had needle-like teeth or had no teeth at all. Dsungaripterus only had teeth at the back of the beak and they were blunt.**

It was an exciting time. If they were successful the Dsungaripterus would not only be their very first pterosaur, but also Prehistoric Park's first extinct vertebrate capable of sustained, powered flight. They had spent hours deliberating this choice. Until they had created a plan to sustainably rescue recently extinct birds this meant they could not rescue animals which had gone extinct sometime after 10,000 BCE, Aregntavis and Pelagornis were deemed too big, and many other pterosaurs were ruled out for several reasons. Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx were even bigger than the other birds so this had ruled them out, (at this stage), and the Darwinopterus were too difficult to rescue with them living in forests. Why they had rejected Pteranodon she couldn't remember, although she did remember that it was the same reason as their rejection of Geosternbergia. They had narrowed it down to two: Pterodaustro and Dsungaripterus. In the end the Dsungaripterus won out.

The portal opened. Jutting out from the back of the portal Amelia could see a huge, wire-meshed structure resembling a bird cage, except that it was three and a half metres tall. _A cage for a pterosaur_. She climbed into the jeep and gently drove forward, (too fast and the light aircraft could have easily fallen over costing the park a tonne of money). The portal washed over them replacing the forests of the Nga Rara islands with a plain of ferns swaying in the Cretaceous sun and small white flowers poked up from the fern bed. All around conifers dotted the plain which broke up the monotony of the plain. In the far distance she could see the long necks from a small herd of sauropods trampling through the plain. Beside her Phil commented about the possibility of them either being Asiatosaurus if it wasn't _nomina dubia_ or even being a new sauropod species.

 **The Dsungaripterus doesn't just have the Junggar Basin to itself. Theropod dinosaurs, early relatives of the Triceratops, and even the last stegosaurs lived in this area.**

"What did Dsungaripterus eat? If we know what it ate we should know where to find them," Kimberly said casting a grin at Amelia. Her colleague had been learning from Amelia how to better track animals. It was good that she was taking the initiative.

"Dsungaripterus had a very interesting diet. They ate shellfish and worms."

"So beaches, rivers and floodplains then?" Kimberly asked. Amelia would have made the exact same judgement. Modern day gulls and pelicans are known to congregate around both freshwater and saltwater areas. Quite possibly pterosaurs did so as well.

"The area of the Junggar Basin that we're at, the Lianmuqin Formation, was a floodplain so if we find the floodplain we should find the Dsungaripterus."

Finding a floodplain would be easier said than done. During high tide the plain would partially be covered up or even vanish completely, time of year could affect the size of the plain, and even the current climate could cause the floodplain to either vanish or take over too much land. Not to mention the fact that the Cretaceous day was twenty-three and not twenty-four hours long. That meant the time that high tide came could be very different. Without the ultralight she doubted whether it was possible for them to easily find the floodplain, with an aerial view it was far easier to scope the landscape. "Let's get the ultralight in the air."

"Where's the pilot?" Mike asked perplexed. His mouth dropped when Jean raised his hand. "You can fly a plane?"

"Not a plane my friend, well not yet. I can fly an ultralight though." The ever humble Jean had never brought up the fact that he could pilot certain light aircrafts until they were preparing for this mission; just one of his many talents.

"The ultralight can only seat two people and one of them has to be the pilot. Phil you should go," Amelia said. It was more of a request than an order. "If a pterosaur is spotted you'll be able to identify it as a Dsungaripterus, Noripterus, Lonchognathosaurus, or something else."

While Jean was looking over the ultralight to see if it was flightworthy she unhooked the rope it was attached to from the jeep. A footprint the size of an elephant's was embedded in the earth; it even resembled an elephant's footprint except for the single pointed toe at the end of the footprint. There was some weight behind the print as well. Whatever had made this print must have been big, around the size of an elephant at a guess. Further to the north there was another print but she dared not follow it any further in case she somehow got separated from the others. Judging by the fact that there were no other prints other than this one it must have been solitary. There was no need to warn the others; judging by the other animals living at the Junggar Basin it could not be a theropod but instead one of the sauropods or even the stegosaur. _For all I know it could be an undiscovered dinosaur._

Phil climbed into the ultralight with Jean following after. Jean was bubbling with excitement. _I'm the first person to pilot an aircraft in prehistory._ Maybe a pterosaur would fly next to him. That would be something to tell people about, flying next to pterosaurs. Despite Igor's modifications to the ultralight the dashboard had changed little with only a few extra buttons. When everything was in order the ultralight started whirring until it took flight. In Jean's opinion there was no greater feeling than flying an aircraft yourself. Looking down at the world below it made you feel special, the king of the world. All of creation lay below you. Jean truly felt alive flying and this time it was an even greater feeling. The Cretaceous lay below him, just for him and Phil. He could see a herd of sauropods amble down below like ants, a large theropod dinosaur could be sleeping under a tree, and he could even see an actual stegosaur swinging its pointed spikes at the end of its tail. It was truly amazing. Not too far ahead he could see a floodplain with huge black shapes taking off from the water edge far below. Outside of anything manmade those shapes were the largest flying thing he had ever seen.

"How big were Dsungaripterus?" he asked Phil.

"Although small by pterosaur standards it was still huge. The average Dsungaripterus had a wingspan equivalent to that of the largest wandering albatrosses!" Good god they were the size of the largest flying bird! Although he had never seen a real wandering albatross he could tell that the shapes flying around the plain were large enough to be albatrosses. From the area which the portal had spat them out to the floodplain he would guess that it would take a thirty minute drive to get to the floodplain with the jeep.

"Holy shit…" a voice came through the radio.

"What's happened?"

"Something amazing…"

 **Meanwhile, back at the park trouble is brewing with one of the park's large three-horned residents and they aren't willing to play nice.**

The glass shattered in a smash which reverberated off of all the trees. One horn had punctured the door window of the jeep sending shards flying everywhere. The thick skin of the Triceratops ensured that the glass did as much damage to the dinosaur as a few grains of sand would do to a human. Charles rumbled again, pushed his head forward, and the glass on the passenger door exploded outward as the horn was forced through it. He shook his head and the car slipped off of his formidable horns to land on its side which the Triceratops immediately set upon again. From his viewpoint he could see one horn puncture the underside of the engine compartment as another speered the part of the chassis where one of the wheels attached to. A tyre fell off and rolled off into the foliage. Although it wasn't a charge like a rhino Charles's goring technique was scarily effective as the half destroyed jeep was testament to.

"We found out it is breeding season for the trikes and Charles isn't too happy," Bob sighed looking forlorn at another destroyed jeep. That was five jeeps now destroyed at Prehistoric Park: two by Saqui the mammoth, two by the trikes and one by Sue the Tyrannosaurus. Who thought it was a bright idea to test if the rex could have jeeps in their enclosure deserved a good slap. Thank god it was remote controlled.

 **Charles the Triceratops was rescued before the asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs hit. Because of the organisation of Triceratops herd having only one male Charles has to be left alone with no female company.**

"Charles doesn't have a mate but our other male, Kurtis, does. Kurtis hasn't been as aggressive as Charles because of this." Kurtis had definitely been making proper use of his harem of females. When looking after dinosaurs he had expected some sights but that was one which he wished to never see again. He shuddered at the memory. Right now Charles had lost interest in the demolished jeep and had turned his attention to a nearby tree which he was cracking under the pressure. Soon there was a horrific splintering noise as the tree was snapped in half.

"At the rate he's going he'll destroy his exhibit!" Charles turned around revealing his crest which had gone from the traditional yellow to a dark red matching the rest of the dinosaur's head. That gave him an idea. He had been told that recent discoveries found that dinosaurs could see the colour red, and Amelia had found out this theory to be true. Heck the fact that the male rex had red heads could be part of that theory! "I have an idea which could stop Charles. Or at least help." There was another crack. To be honest the sooner he did it the better.

 **From an aggressive Triceratops to a more placid dinosaur, Prehistoric Park's Struthiomimus are getting ready to lay the first batch of dinosaur eggs in over 65 million years.**

From the hideout Suzanne could see one of the ostrich-esque dinosaurs taking a sand bath, brown-red dust floated all around as the feathered dinosaur ruffled up the dirt around it. All the while it made clucking noises. Nearby a Thescelosaur was pecking at the ground in a feature which Suzanne loved about Prehistoric Park. The Hell Creek area was divided into several enclosures but it was possible for some of the smaller dinosaurs to enter other enclosures through a network of ditches and undergrowth which larger dinosaurs could not get past. This meant that the Thescelosaurs, and even the Struthiomimus at times, could be seen next to hadrosaurs and Triceratops. They were even considering adding the alvarezsaur into this complex, although most were in favour of keeping it out of the complex. Only the Tyrannosaurs and raptors were excluded from this secret complex, and for good reason.

"I'll try and see that nest," she whispered. The bathing Struthiomimus was close to a, currently, empty nest with his mate out somewhere. Careful not to disturb the nearby dinosaurs she opened the door of the hideout and stepped out into the enclosure. If the Struthiomimus was anything like the modern day ostrich, which it closely resembled, then it would not be a wise idea to be caught near the nest. Quiet as a mouse she edged around the little thicket where the dinosaur had laid her eggs. Only a camera operator had come with her; it was too dangerous trailing just a camera behind her never mind a camera _and_ a boom mic. Through the trees she could see the nest comprising of twelve eggs laid in a circle of a metre in diameter. They had been laid in a curious way with one egg being exposed and the one next to it being hidden under the foliage which the dinosaur used to make the nest.

"We can't tell what this egg laying pattern means. In crocodilians the temperature of the egg determines the sex so it might be the same with dinosaurs, and this could be a way to get several of each sex. It could be anything else…" There was a loud squawk. The bathing Struthiomimus had noticed Suzanne and the camera operator, and had gotten up to defend his patch. Not wanting to become well acquainted with the sharp toes of the Struthiomimus they backed off back to the hideout. Quickly Suzanne shut the door behind them.

"All the nests have that layout so it will be interesting to see what the reason behind it is when they hatched."

 **Meanwhile, at the Cretaceous Junggar Basin the land based team have encountered an unusual sight for the Cretaceous.**

It was not a fully grown one or she would have seen it coming towards them in the distance much earlier than they had done. The ultralight must have attracted it; a big unusual, smelly object that made strange noises in an animal's habitat was bound to attract something big. Although not yet fully grown this one was almost the length of the height of three humans standing head to toe. Coming from a thick neck was a surprisingly small head far such a large dinosaur which had a bony beak. The dinosaur had plates on the back, (osteoderms according to Phil), which were almost rectangular in shape instead of the famous diamond shape ones, and the plates alternated on the back of the dinosaur. At the end of the long tail were four dangerous looking spikes.

"Is it Stegosaurus?" Mike asked.

"No, it is the last of the stegosaurs though: Wuerhosaurus." Well she hoped it was based on the files she had read. The stegosaur had a mixed colouring being lime green on the bottom half of the body to give way to a dark grey-green on the top half of the body except for the plates which were a very light red colour with a black and yellow dot in the centre, like a giant eye. In between some of the plates were thin quills from their long gone days of being the size of a cat. Through her headset Phil was muttering in excitement that they had found a Wuerhosaurus. Okay…what did she know about stegosaurs?

"Well…we don't exactly know much about the purpose of the plates: they could be for defense, for heat exchange or even communication. Get away from there!"

Mike was going closer to the stegosaur, Stegosaurus being his favourite dinosaur, so close in fact that he was in swinging range of the long tail thagomizers. It was like babysitting a child with him sometimes! The stegosaur gave a deep rumble and waved its spikes in a threating manner which showed perfectly why it was unwise to go near it. She had a feeling that if it wasn't for the fact that the Wuerhosaurus was not used to humans that it had not deemed them a threat as otherwise her boyfriend would have been turned into a kebab by the behemoth.

"I have no idea if this thing's endangered or not. Phil should know."

 **The last species of stegosaurs has to wait though because pterosaurs are the main objective today.**

A few of the pterosaurs had taken flight around them. Each one, although small by comparison to other Cretaceous pterosaurs, dwarfed virtually every flying bird of the present day. They had a black topside and a white bottom but it was their faces which really struck Jean. Some had a dark red crest, an amber beak, and orange patches on the face with a white spot over the eye while others simply had a black crest instead of the red one. The red crested ones also had an orange patch at the back of the neck. Compared to other pterosaurs he had seen these ones looked very strange thanks to the unearthly grin that the beak seemed to be in. Down below dozens more were sifting through the muddy plains that they lived on.

"Can you tell what they are Phil?" Jean shouted back to the palaeontologist.

"By their size they can only be Dsungaripterus. We've found our pterosaurs my friend!"

In the distance Jean could see a sight very different to any seen in the Cretaceous trundling to the floodplains. Unless it was themselves from the future that jeep had to belong to Amelia, Kimberly and Mike. Amelia would know a plan to safely rescue a few pterosaurs. Jean started descended which scattered the Dsungaripterus who were still deciding whether to mob the strange creature invading its skies or to ignore it. In fear they cawed and flew away in the opposite direction. Gently he eased down the ultralight so when it made contact with the earth only a light bump rocked the aircraft.

"Are these Dsungaripterus?" Amelia asked as she exited the jeep about twenty minutes later. In the meantime he and Phil had been observing the Dsungaripterus in their natural habitat. Phil had shown that the brightly coloured ones were males and the duller ones were females, and there seemed to be no concrete organisation. Each had their own little patch but there wasn't any interaction between the others except for the low pitched caws when one got too close to one another or the high pitch whistle of greeting. "Just look how they eat," Phil had said pointing to the pterosaurs. They used their beak the same way someone trying to lift something would use a crowbar; they would force the curved beak under the mollusc shells and lever it out of the sand or from the rocks.

"Yeah these are our Dsungaripterus. Any idea how we can catch them?"

Her answer was to pull some tarpaulin from the back of the jeep, now draped over her shoulder, and what looked like a rifle except the barrel was a large square in shape filled with some sort of netting forced into the end. She placed them on the ground to return to the jeep to pull out some black material. Just then he noticed how the tarpaulin was a mixture of shades of red and yellow. "This tarpaulin," she began holding the brightly coloured one "has been very recently developed to attract the attention of birds by Shinchoku. Birds can see more colours than humans do and they've discovered that this colour combination can catch a bird's attention. We know dinosaurs can at least see the colour red and I personally believe that they could see like a bird, and possibly a pterosaur had the same eyesight as well. We'll use the tarpaulin to get their attention, with it distracted I'll fire the net gun which will entrap the pterosaur and then someone will come to put the material over the pterosaur's head. That will keep it calm."

In preparation Jean grasped hold of the tarpaulin tightly. Under his feet mud from the floodplain squelched as he walked up to the nearest Dsungaripterus. A male. Mike had the black material tightly in his hands as if letting go of it would cost him his life. The pterosaur lifted its head to silently observe the strange fluttering thing that had now invaded its territory. Curiously it cocked its head to the left and right observing the Jean like he was a stupid looking matador. _I think it's only looking at me because it's a big fluttery thing._ However, it failed to notice both Mike and Amelia come increasingly close towards it. It was so distracted that it even walked on its wings towards him completely ignoring the others. Suddenly there was a pop and a large net had engulfed the pterosaur, but before it could give a cry of distress Mike was on top of it placing the black material over its face causing it to make low clucking noises. Now he was close to the Dsungaripterus he could see that it was covered in hair-like fibres.

"Let's set get this one…" Amelia was cut off just then. Several Dsungaripterus nearby were making one long honk like a goose before flying off into the sky. A theropod dinosaur covered in black and white feathers, except for the underside, had come out of nowhere to snap at the Dsungaripterus. It was just under the height of a human but was over three metres long. Unlike Tyrannosaurus its head was more pointed. Their Dsungaripterus made squawks of panic and started violently shaking until someone let go. This caused it to shake off the net and bowl them out of the way sending them flying back painfully. It felt like she had been punched in the stomach and her back screamed in agony as she felt herself painfully land on her back. Mud splattered onto her face covering her eyesight, she could even taste it in her mouth. Spitting in out she could feel her entire body screaming in pain. Someone wiped the mud from her eyes and planted a kiss on her forehead. Whoever it was hugged her which caused her to scream in pain. Her eyesight had gone blurry.

"Mike stop being an idiot and get me the first aid kit," a voice ordered which she recognised as Kimberly's. Why was Kimberly here? "Amelia can you remember where we are?"

"No, somewhere muddy." Somebody joked that she still had her humour. "We're in Cretaceous China. Shit she's got concussion." She felt Kimberly press parts of her body looking for broken bones. "Let's get her on the jeep and back to the park. Phil is that thing over there dangerous?"

Through her blurred vision she could see a big meat-eating dinosaur tearing into a very small, peculiar looking pterodactyl. "I can't say. All the theropods here are known from scatty remains but as long as it's eating something else we should be fine."

 **With their plan spoiled by a dinosaur and with one team member concussed they have to accept the fact that today Prehistoric Park won't be having a Dsungaripterus.**

It was three days after her concussion via pterosaur that they could go back to the Junggar Basin. Instead of broken bones her body was covered in blue bruises which were slowly turning green. Thank goodness that Kimberly was an expert at first aid or otherwise her injuries could have been misdiagnosed. In the meantime she had Graham go over their filmed footage for her new plan, gather some cycads to lure a stegosaur, (going extinct because of flowers replacing its normal food), Bob had been building some monstrosity, and Charles had managed to wreck another jeep and half the trees in his enclosure. On the plus side Phil had identified their attacker as a juvenile Kelmayisaurus, a possible carcharodontosaurid, taking advantage of a vulnerable baby Dsungaripterus

"This is track one, this is track two. Be sure to play the right one or I think you'll be getting a few extra bruises," Graham laughed.

"Trust me I don't want anymore," she winced. Every movement was painful. In retrospect she had been rather lucky; a swan could break a man's arm so she was lucky that she had escaped with some concussion and bruises. Phil drove their jeep through the portal to the spot where they had found the Wuerhosaurus three days earlier, although they had emerged through the portal just a day after they had the run-in with the pterosaurs. She assumed this must have been the dinosaur's territory because it was still where they had found it the day beforehand. Mike forced the portal sticks into the ground as Kimberly dumped the cycads behind the portal.

"Recent studies of a Stegosaurus called Sophie found that stegosaurs could eat harder vegetation like these cycads," Phil said waving the plants in the direction of the Wuerhosaurus. "The arrival of flowering plants caused cycads to become less common so stegosaurs lost their primary food source."

The Wuerhosaurus saw the plants and, like all herbivores, they were eager to constantly eat. The dinosaur ambled towards the cycads, hungry for the plants which normally made up its diet. It got closer and closer until they opened the portal and the giant stegosaur vanished to through to Prehistoric Park with the promise of more cycads. With that settled they drove off to the floodplain. Anyone would have thought that nothing had disturbed the Dsungaripterus yesterday other than the slightly red patch where the carnivore had torn apart the young pterosaur. The rest were now going about their regular routine of snapping at other Dsungaripterus or levering shells out of their hiding places. Jean, after doing his checks, got into the ultralight and set off circling the plains.

"I hope this works," she said wincing at her bruises as she pressed a button. She had Graham go over their video footage to isolate the sounds of the pterosaurs. Right now the distress call of the Dsungaripterus rang out, reverberating over the land. She smiled as the pterosaurs took flight. Now it was up to Jean…

"Hey there!" he yelled as one pterosaur almost collided with him. After that near hit there was no other near collisions. Now it was time to see if Amelia's plan worked. He flicked the _'Portal Switch'_ which Igor had attached to the ultralight. Although he could not see it he knew what it did: two portal sticks would drop down from the underside of the ultralight and open the vortex. Below he could see a shining light indicating that this worked. Now to use the speakers. He cringed as the greeting sound of a Dsungaripterus rang out from the ultralight extremely loudly. Shadows enveloped the cockpit as the elegant pterosaurs flew over his aircraft. To his left he could see a brightly coloured one fly alongside him.

"One just went through!" Phil said through the radio. After a few more minutes no other pterosaurs went through so he changed tact, he flew higher. This threw the pterosaurs off, who had been flying by his wings, and he heard a few more excited calls through the radio. He periodically changed his height to allow more pterosaurs to go through. By the time he shut off the portal five Dsungaripterus had flown through the portal. He landed to much applause and within minutes the ultralight was hooked to the jeep and being pulled to the park.

The pterosaurs had been spat out into the aerial holding pen. Within the wire meshed structure they called at one another: two males and three females. After their check-up by Jesse they were moved to their new enclosure inside the aviary. From a balcony, and separated by a glass barrier, it was possible to see the pterosaurs eagerly dig up clams from their artificial beach or build their nests on the rocky outcrop overlooking the beach as they would have done in the wild to protect themselves from predators. Amelia thought they looked rather peaceful in their new home.

 **Although the Dsungaripterus are safely at their new home one other animal is not too happy. Charles the Triceratops.**

"Shit!" Amelia cried as she jumped back in surprise. Pain roared up and down her body from her bruises as this happened. Charles had forced his horns through the fencing where the vehicles usually came from and had been furiously banging against the gate. If Suzanne had been any closer the dinosaur would have otherwise been able to easily take her head off with the horn. Jesse swore as the trike went off further into his enclosure. "His testosterone is off the charts!"

Suddenly there was a blare of a horn and cheering. So that was what Bob was making…

 **To solve Charles's aggression Bob has decided to fight fire with fire…and tyres.**

Bob had welded large tyres onto a tractor forming a very crude looking trike. Two lights had been forced between the tyres to form eyes, branches were made to resemble horns and one tyre on the roof had been painted dark red to resemble Charles's angry frill. Sitting inside Bob was cheering. "Meet Charles's sparring partner! Who wants to join me?" Before she could blink Jesse was sitting in the tractor next to Bob.

"Men," Suzanne laughed as the trike/tractor hybrid drove through the gate and into Charles's territory. It was a ballsy move but it could be a good way to help the testosterone fuelled dinosaur to burn off steam.

Bob looked around for the Triceratops. The thing was the size of an elephant so how hard was it to find? A burning red frill poked out of the foliage and a low grunt followed. Charles snorted and scrapped his foot along the earth sending a dust cloud flying around him. In response Bob revved the engine. Charles was soon on the tractor bashing his horns against the tractor's tyres as the tractor's wheels started sending dirt flying up behind it. On board both Bob and Jesse were cheering in delight. Suddenly Bob reversed back towards the gate making Charles give calls of victory.

"Best let him win!"

"You two are mad!" Amelia yelled at them. "Just don't let Mike have a go!"

 **With an easy way to calm down a testosterone filled Triceratops Prehistoric Park can get ready for the next mission.**

 **Rescued this chapter:**

5 Dsungaripterus weii 2 male, 3 female

1 Wuerhosaurus homheni 1 female

 **Seen but not rescued:**

Unidentified sauropod (most likely Asiatosaurus)

Kelmayisaurus petrolicus

 **Trivia:**

 **1\. The name of the ultralight was suggested by Masterchiefsenpai**

 **2\. The process about choosing this mission was the actual thought process I went through to choose Dsungaripterus. However, the reason why Pteranodon and Geosternbergia were not chosen was because they were too famous and for the flight mission I wanted to go for a lesser known animal. The decision to go for Dsungaripterus was decided on a coin toss.**

 **3\. The Kalmayisaurus attack is based off of a scene in an episode of Walking with Dinosaurs.**

 **4\. Psittacosaurus was going to appear but I couldn't think of a good way to bring it in.**

 **5\. The reference to Cretaceous Australia is because that mission was going to be in Phase One. My internet went down so as an apology I let people make a request for a mission so that mission got shelved, (hint at what's coming Phase Three or Four).**

 **6\. Dsungaripterus translated into English means 'Junggar Basin Wing' which led to this title. Originally the title of each mission was going to be the English translation of the animal being rescued's name. I dropped this idea because I thought it would get convoluted with the Carboniferous bug mission.**

 **Notes:**

 **I have a poll on my profile which I'll appreciate it if you all vote on it. Also I had several different ideas for A New World, this format being one of them, so if you want me to tell you all the other ideas I had I'll be more than happy to. I'll put them in the review section.**


	18. Park Stories- Messel Walkway

**Park Stories- Messel Walkway**

 _The Messel Walkway on the central island is home to several of the smaller, safer animals from the Messel Pit of Eocene Germany. Guests can walk through this enclosure designed to resemble the Messel Pit forests minus the aggressive or dangerous animals. Unlike any of the other walkways the Messel Walkway is open during both the day and the night. Normally going at either dawn or dusk is the best time to see all the inhabitants of the Walkway as both the diurnal and the nocturnal animals are normally active at these times. There is also the benefit of not having to be escorted be keepers, and that fewer people are willing to trek out into the park early in the morning or late at night. Thanks to the rugged terrain of the exhibit keepers often escort guests at night to avoid injury._

 _The Walkway is home to several different animals coming from the Messel Pit; all of which have become adored worldwide. The unusual looking_ Lepctictidium _are active throughout most of the day making them the perfect animals for guests to take photos with and if guests are lucky they can even spot the primitive horse_ Propalaeotherium. _By the water source in the Walkway during the day the otter-like_ Buxolestes _can often be seen either sunbathing on the bank or swimming in the water. At night the nocturnal animals come out including Prehistoric Park's population of the primate_ Darwinius _and the anteater_ Eurotamandua. _Although not part of the Walkway guests have managed to see one of the eight_ Gastornis _, (three of which were born in the park), and even the extant_ collared lory.

When Prehistoric Park opened to the public it was under no illusion that every animal would be immensely popular. Although the Nyasasaurus was popular among dinosaur lovers it didn't have the same pull as the Tyrannosaurus, most of the inhabitants of the _Cambrian Coast_ section of the aquarium got passing glances from the public, and even the biggest lovers of palaeontology overlooked the obscure Stenaulorhynchus. Prehistoric Park assumed that the _Messel Walkway_ would be an overlooked enclosure thanks to it containing no well-known animals and that half the inhabitants were nocturnal. The only thing that they thought would attract guests would be that you could go inside the enclosure itself and that it was close to the Gastornis whose resemblance to terror birds would entice guests to the area. Unexpectedly the _Messel Walkway_ turned out to be one of the most popular attractions at the park. As all the animals were deemed 'cute' by the general public, how some of the animals were eager to be around humans, and the fact you could go up to these cute, approachable creatures the _Messel Walkway_ became an immensely popular attraction, even at night. It became so popular that keepers had to monitor how many people were in the _Walkway_ at a time to avoid undue stress for the animals.

The _Darwinius_ were one of Prehistoric Park's success stories. A relatively large population were rescued initially and quickly a breeding population where they successfully bred every year from 2018. By 2023 the population reached thirty individuals. If the population keeps growing exponentially the Darwinius may be moved to Prehistoric Park's sister park, Prehistoric Realm, in the Indian Ocean, and possibly even the Lost World Project, (a project releasing extinct animals into controlled habitats similar to the kakapo on Codfish Island). This population expansion has caused the _Walkway_ to be extended two years ago, much to the dismay of visiting guests who no longer could see their much adored primates. Despite being nocturnal the Darwinius proved to be popular among guests with them eager to come down from the trees to look at visitors. A simple search for Prehistoric Park on any social media website would bring up at least one photo of a Darwinius. They are relatively cute looking and approachable making them instant hits with visitors, (and staff), and children were often amused by the fact that they urinated on their hands. However, the Darwinius have a darker side: kleptomania. Each day keepers find wallets, phones, watches, cameras and video recorders dropped somewhere deep in the heart of the _Walkway_ where the Darwinius have stolen something. One time even a Gucci handbag has been found! Only the Anchiornis, kea and Microraptor rival the Darwinius for their kleptomania.

After the Darwinius the second most popular resident of the _Walkway_ is the Leptictidium. This bizarre looking mammal got attention because of the way it looked and how tame it appeared to be. Before the park opened they had gotten attached to the keepers so when visitors came to the park they merely extended this attachment to the public. Initially only one species resided at the park but during a second mission to the Messel Pit a second species, , was rescued. Not as popular as the primates but they still remain very popular. Thanks to only a small family being initially rescued for , (the parents unfortunately passing thanks to old age just before the park opened), it took longer for the population to grow, compared to the Darwinius, but it currently exceeds twenty individuals allowing it to possibly be in line for the Lost World Project. now exceeds fifteen individuals showing this growth is not limited to one species.

On the other side to the Darwinius and the Leptictidium were their timid neighbours, the Eurotamandua and the Propalaeotherium. The Eurotamandua rarely left the treetops, only came out at night and even their keepers struggled to find the ancient anteaters most of the time, so naturally only the most devoted visitors would try and look for the elusive creatures while the rest only regarded it as something only existing on an information board. Their diurnal neighbour the Propalaeotherium often got overlooked just because of how timid they are. Propalaeotherium being bottom of the food chain at the Messel Pit meant that they were naturally timid so noisy visitors trampling through their habitat meant that they often ducked out of public view. Keepers could only get close to the bravest of the horses and even then they would often run off at the slightest of movements or loud noises. The Buxolestes, meanwhile, were a different story. Like modern otters they loved the limelight often purposefully posing or playing near their water source when visitors passed by. Five Buxolestes live at Prehistoric Park, (Angela, Luna, Winfred, Otto and Bernard), and all are well liked by both keepers and guests. Angela is a particular favourite often purposefully coming out of the water for the sole purpose to perform in front of visitors in hopes any would give her food.

Like the rest of the Park you cannot feed or pet any animals in the _Walkway_ but that doesn't stop everyone. Occasionally a guest might try and pet a Leptictidium but often the mammal's fast speed mixed with a loathing of being pet prevents any incidents. The biggest issue is covert feeding of the animals. Keepers try their hardest to discourage this and only twice has feeding led to anything negative happening, both times including the Darwinius. The first time a visitor tried to feed a Darwinius a slice of orange only to be bit by the primate as it wrenched the fruit from his hand, and the second time a woman had several Darwinius jump on her as she tried to feed it. As it was caught on video and posted on YouTube it got Prehistoric Park some criticism for not having this precaution in mind. Already the keepers had to make sure the Darwinius did not raid collared lory nests so this was another added pain for the keepers, however, the infamy of the video helped deter most people from feeding the primates. Although the Buloxestes have to be constantly watched due to their fondness for nipping with their very sharp teeth.

Although the _Messel Walkway_ wasn't expected to be a popular attraction, and it is far from the most popular attraction, it remains one of Prehistoric Park's unexpected gems.


	19. Mission 11- Horned Monsters

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and a palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **On this next mission they shall travel to the marshes of Russia during a time before the dinosaurs evolved to rescue a bizarre horned reptile.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 11- Horned Monsters**

 **Prehistoric Park holds a wide range of animals from a wide range of habitats. From the primitive Anomalocaris to Columbian mammoths, to pterosaurs to even Tyrannosaurs. Today the park is preparing to rescue a very peculiar animal from a time they've never been to before.**

He could feel the dryness lingering on the air just like how perfume lingered once it was sprayed. Thanks to the humidity outside the biodome this aridity in the atmosphere was even more palpable. To be honest it was a refreshing change from the constant humidity outside the biodome which the Nga Rara islands offered, and to him that was an added bonus. Yes the climate of the Nga Rara islands was pleasant with the warm sun and the refreshing early morning rains but at times you needed a different climate to really appreciate it. He just hoped that the mysterious creature that would be rescued next appreciated the effort they had gone to so it could feel right at home. It was an odd looking thing he had to admit when he first saw the skeleton and reconstruction of the monster they were rescuing from extinction.

"Was this a crocodile then?" Bob asked. He had learned quickly that _suchus_ meant crocodile and the fact that they had a marsh built in the biodome created more evidence for his conclusion.

"Actually no. The _suchus_ part of the name is most likely from palaeontologists jumping the gun again…" She cast Phil a dark look. They had recently found out that the park's palaeontologists had been too eager to declare that their hadrosaurs were Anatosaurus annectens over Edmontosaurus annectens. Just a few days ago the results came back from a mitochondrial DNA analysis which showed that they were actually Edmontosaurus, not a separate genus. Needless to say many people weren't pleased. "The Estemmenosuchus was actually a therapsid, a group of animals which includes mammals and their ancestors."

 **The Estemmenosuchus was a very strange animal. It was a reptile but more closely related to mammals than modern reptiles, it was semi-aquatic and it had horns on its head similar to antlers on a moose.**

"From the Permian? So this thing lived before the dinosaurs?" He always imagined things that lived on the land before the dinosaurs came about to be tiny, like the Hynerpeton at the park, or were giant bugs. This thing was different: the larger species was the size of a cow and built like a hippo.

"Indeed it did," Phil replied inspecting the marsh that Bob had created. "Estemmenosuchus lived during the mid-Permian, two-hundred and sixty- seven million years ago, during a time when the world was drier and was getting drier as the period went along. This is what caused its extinction." He waved a hand across the marsh that the Estemmenosuchus would later inhabit. With the world getting drier living in an environment reliant on water was a certain way to speed up extinction.

 **The Estemmenosuchus lived during the Wordian of the Permian in what are now the Ural Mountains. Instead of thick forests and purple mountains marshes and swamps dominated the landscape. This is when the very strange Estemmenosuchus lived.**

The portal opened. With them going to a marsh she had deemed it unwise to bring the jeep along with them as it would only take one wrong turn of the steering wheel to have the jeep sink into the Permian marsh. As she put on her bag Amelia winced in pain. Most of the bruises inflicted on her by a terrified Dsungaripterus had disappeared by now but a few ugly, dark green ones remained which had yet to go away. She had been hoping that they would be gone by this mission. _So much for that!_ Still wincing she carried her bag and a tent through the portal feeling the similar peculiar sensation of the portal wash over her. It never ceased to amaze her to walk through the portal to see the Nga Rara islands vanish only to be immediately replaced by the prehistoric world. Permian Russia was nothing like the Russia that she was used to; instead of sweeping plains, forests and mountains she saw a huge sweeping marsh. Instead of grass, which dominated modern marshes, tall horsetails sprang from the waterside.

"Welcome to the Permian," Phil said. "It maybe two million years after our initial date but hopefully we should still find an Estemmenosuchus or two." This had Amelia worried. So far the only Estemmenosuchus fossils had been found dated from 267 million years ago which caused Phil to suggest going back to 265 million years ago. It had some sound logic; the reason why the only fossils came from 267 million years ago could be because at that time they were most common, and quite possibly later dates did not have the right conditions for bone preservation. Of course coming back to 265 million years did have its disadvantages. For one, the reason why there were no fossils after 267 million years could be because Estemmenosuchus went extinct 267 million years ago, and even if they did live 265 million years ago it could be possible that they were so rare that it could take so long to find them. A friend in India had told her that the tiger spotting tours were having increasing trouble finding the elusive cats…

She sat thinking as the others set up camp, (for once she was grateful for the bruises a scared pterosaur had given her). The best plan would be for half of them to search the land surrounding the marsh for signs of an Estemmenosuchus, (even modern hippos went on land sometime), while Jean looked over the marsh with the drone for one. It would be best for herself, Phil and Kimberly to hunt on land while Mike and Jean checked the marsh. The others acquiesced to this plan, although Mike did grumble about leaving her, and they set off. Behind her the drone buzzed overhead like an electronic bird as it flew over the marsh in search of the Estemmenosuchus.

"I have a theory that Estemmenosuchus lived a bit like hippos," she explained. "Hippos come out of the water at least once a day."

"So we find tracks we find an Estemmenosuchus, or where we can find one," Kimberly finished. She nodded. Even if they found only tracks they would be able to set up a trap for the Estemmenosuchus if they were anything like hippos. Hippos often would leave the water on a specific trail and hopefully Estemmenosuchus was a creature of habit as well. They walked for half an hour finding nothing of any sort of life. People often thought that when tracking animals it was a simple task of immediately spotting a set of tracks or broken foliage and just following from there. When you found the tracks it was an easy task from there…if you could find the tracks to start off with.

They stopped for a quick break after another hour of fruitless searching. Jean had found nothing as well from when they had radioed him for an update. Well it was not exactly true. There had been a set of tracks which Phil said could have been made by a carnivore called Titanophoneus. Although interesting it wasn't the thing that they were looking for. As Amelia sat on the hard ground, (wincing as she sat), she noticed a few large footprints. When she showed Phil he said that there was a chance that they were made by an Estemmenosuchus.

"This could be our chance to find an Estemmenosuchus," she said happily. She winced again as she got up too quickly causing Kimberly to give a smirk. Kimberly was never happy if someone disturbed her coffee breaks. "There's more than one set of tracks. If it is Estemmenosuchus it could mean that it lives in small herds." _If it's an Estemmenosuchus._ It took another half hour of walking to find the creators of the footprints and they weren't Estemmenosuchus. The owners of the prints were thickset grey creatures with a thick neck and a rectangular skull half a metre long. The reptiles paid no attention to the time travellers by continuing to feast on horsetails as if they weren't there.

"What the hell are they?" Kimberly whispered trying not to disrupt the reptiles. Being as thickset as they are on top of being almost the same height as a human they did not appear to be the best thing to run into.

"They appear to be Ulemosaurus, a Russian relative of the Moschops," Phil whispered. She knew what a Moschops was but from Kimberly's face it seemed that this was the first time she had ever heard the name Moschops. "They have a funny habit of head-butting one another…" Unfortunately for Phil they had no inclination to show this aspect of their behaviour. The added fact that they weren't going extinct meant that they could not rescue any at the moment for the park. Suddenly Jean's voice came over the radio, (causing the nearest Ulemosaurus to look up in surprise from its horsetail feast).

"We think we've found one."

 **The team have to leave the head-butting Ulemosaurus for another day. Meanwhile, back at Prehistoric Park, resident palaeontologist Alfred Steiner is testing a theory with one of the most recent residents.**

Alfred dabbed his forehead with his handkerchief. He never did well in the sun, he sweated all of the time, he got burnt and generally he never did well with the harsh rays beating down on him. As a man of science though, he ignored the complaints from his body to help progress palaeontology. Today was a golden opportunity as well. Although his specialty was mammals in the Cretaceous and Paleocene he knew enough about dinosaurs to help make theories about that aspect of palaeontology, anyway after he made some investigations an _actual_ expert in that field would be called to the islands. Jack Horner and Bob Bakker had been coming to the park so often that he believed if they didn't have family engagements they would happily live here.

"At Prehistoric Park we want to better understand extinct animals," he explained for the camera crew tailing him. "That is why I'm with this lovely lady today." Winona the Wuerhosaurus stared at them absentmindedly.

 **Prehistoric Park's only Wuerhosaurus was rescued from starvation from Cretaceous China. Flowers had started to replace the normal food source of stegosaurs like Wuerhosaurus.**

"In 1976 Farlow, among others, suggested that the plates on stegosaurs were used for thermoregulation. Later palaeontologists have contested this, and we've backed that up with Winona here," he smiled watching the dinosaur who was completely unaware that she had silenced one theory about her group's plate function. "There is a theory that the back plates are used for display. We have a problem with that though…Winona is not only the only Wuerhosaurus in existence she is also the only stegosaur in existence. We cannot test this theory without another stegosaur. That is until we made another stegosaur."

He had gotten the idea from seeing Bob make his own Triceratops to burn some of the dinosaur's testosterone filled rage. Unfortunately for Steiner he was not a skilled engineer as Bob was so he had to rely on someone else to build his fake stegosaur. With Bob overseeing the construction of the Estemmenosuchus enclosure he had to practically beg the Yousef to build it for him, and even then he had only agreed reluctantly as he was focusing on creating a linkup between the portal area and an outdoor pool. He had done a good job with the tractor-stegosaur though; like Bob's trike is was a tractor covered in tyres except instead of a frill it had several painted diamond shape plates made of cardboard sticking out from the tyres. Of course Yousef had not actually seen Winona yet or otherwise he would have made the plates more rectangular instead of diamond shape. Well beggars can't be choosers.

"We've painted these plates hoping that Winona will react to them." A keeper in the stegosaur tractor revved the engine of the vehicle to get the dinosaur's attention. She looked up at the tractor before moving in a semicircle around the vehicle shaking her plates as she went. He could see the muscles in her back causing her plates to shake. Curiously she seemed to be getting frustrated that the tractor wasn't doing the same thing by her low grunts and violent tail swipes. "Try moving the tractor!" The driver drove forward in the same semicircle pattern that the stegosaur was taking. All the while the stegosaur was watching the fake plates on the tractor which were swaying in the wind. "Well I guess that it seems that the plates are used for display. We can only confirm it when we get more though…"

Winona seemed so frustrated by the lack of communication from the fake stegosaur that she forced a spike through one of the tyres. Angrily she wrenched it free and ambled off to find more food.

 **Back in Permian Russia the team are on their way to find an Estemmenosuchus.**

Phil and Mike emerged back through the portal with the other inflatable boat. A loud splash rang out as the boat was thrown onto the surface of the water sending algae flying across the marsh's surface. Amelia again winced in pain as she tried to gently sit down on the nearest boat and grabbed an oar. Mike grabbed it off of her and insisted that he would do it by himself which earned him a dark look from Amelia. Phil came and sat in their boat as Kimberly, Jean and the communicator went onto the other boat.

"From the drone we found out that the Estemmenosuchus was on an islet in the middle of the marsh," she said to the camera during the periodic, soft, silent strokes of the oars. Phil guessed from the size of the therapsid that it was an E. uralensis, but they would only find out when they finally found it. Over the heads of several horsetails big green dragonflies buzzed around. Other than the soft splashes from the oars only their rhythmic beating of their wings could be heard. _The sea is nearby; maybe this is a tidal marsh._ After another forty minutes of paddling the islet loomed in sight. A small thud followed by another signified that the boats had made landfall. Within minutes of landing on the islet there was a strange very deep sound a bit like that of a hippo.

It was big, as big as an ox. The therapsid had a dark pink stomach and a dark grey top without any sight of hair or filament. At the end of a thick neck was an elongated head topped with blunt horns alongside horns sticking from each side of the head. When it opened its mouth to make another deep boom Amelia could see the large canines like knives sticking out from the top of the jaw. If she didn't know any better she would have assumed this creature was a ferocious killer which tore prey apart with those sharp teeth. Behind her she could hear Kimberly fumble with the portal sticks in case they had to make a hasty retreat. She noticed though how lethargic the beast looked; she could see the Estemmenosuchus's ribs through the thick skin. It gave another boom and started doing push-ups, (shaking its horned head simultaneously), in a way to intimidate the humans.

"This is clear intimidation behaviour," she said. "It will do this to try and scare us off."

"And if it doesn't scare us off?" Mike asked.

"It'll do some mock charges. Whoa!" It suddenly briefly darted forward and began rocking back and forth on its thick legs. She noticed though how it did not lower its head to charge with its impressive horns. Although being impaled on those horns was something that she didn't have to worry about being crushed under that muscular body was not a better prospect. "By the looks of it they'll use their weight to intimidate us. We can use that." Jean contacted Graham to inform them about the Estemmenosuchus that would be coming to the park. Carefully they opened the portal but the Estemmenosuchus was too busy focusing on the invaders of its habitat to notice the swirling portal. Suddenly it charged like a bullet from a gun. The familiar sensation of the portal washed over her and the buzz of dragonflies was replaced by shouts from keepers in the portal area. Her body screamed from the unhealthy mixture of bruises and running making her bite back a scream of pain. A thud followed as the Etsemmenosuchus charged through the portal to only be bewildered by the disappearance of the Permian marsh.

 **Prehistoric Park now has a new oddly looking resident from the Russian Permian. Something seems to be amiss though.**

They had managed to recreate the Russian Permian marsh which the Estemmenosuchus lived in almost to a tee. They had managed to even change the marsh to have stimulated tides which the Estemmenosuchus lived in. However, it was not thriving. The vets had noticed an increase in weight of the therapsid, named Ekaterina, but her ribs could clearly be seen under her grey skin and she never seemed to settle down. All the time she paced around her marsh and her keepers had said that she hardly got any sleep. Sometimes she would rub against a tree leaving a pale liquid which initially was thought to mark territory but it was too thin to be that. What caused even more worry was the fact that Estemmenosuchus was gigantothermic.

"We found out through fossils that Estemmenosuchus was gigantothermic," Phil explained looking sadly at Ekaterina. "It means that they can't be overly active because otherwise they can't control their body temperature."

 **The only way to save Ekaterina is to take another trip back to the Permian. This time they will go back 267 million years when the fossils have been found in the hope that seeing the Estemmenosuchus when they weren't rare will cast light on why Ekaterina is not thriving.**

They emerged on another tidal marsh except this time it did not take long to find an Estemmenosuchus. Within half an hour they found the first tracks and not long after they found some Estemmenosuchus. In fact they found quite a lot of them. There must have been over fifty of the lounging therapsids who were wading through the water, eating horsetails, and occasionally shaking their impressive horned heads at one another. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason in the social organisation of the therapsids other than the fact that they seemed to congregate around one large one with particularly large horns.

"That one must be a dominant male," Amelia said. "From here it seems they have only a loose connection between them and that male." Judging by the fact that there were other large horned Estemmenosuchus it seemed apparent that they were individualistic with a largely fickle association with the biggest one.

"My god this reeks!" Kimberly complained. On a tree was some thick paste like substance which was so potent that it could curdle milk. It seemed to be similar to the liquid that Ekatrina had been rubbing on the trees in her enclosure except that it was far thicker than the liquid which Ekatrina produced, as well as being more solid than liquid. "It seems to be like a territory marker. What I don't get is why though?"

"Make sure other Estemmenosuchus don't come into your spot?" Jean asked.

"Except they live alongside other Estemmenosuchus so there's no need to mark your territory."

The only apparent thing in their behaviour which indicated territory was when a male got too close to the biggest, ugliest looking males. However, that was quickly resolved without the need of demarcating territory by their ritual push-ups and grunts which resulted in the smaller, less impressive males backing off into some forgotten part of the marsh. Something was niggling the back of her mind though. Ekatrina was trying to smear this paste-like substance in her enclosure so the production of this substance had something to do with why she wasn't thriving at either her old home or Prehistoric Park. _What was the purpose of that substance?_

"What's that over there?" Kimberly asked pointing at the edge of the marsh. A quadrupedal reptile around the size of a jaguar and resembling something like a reptilian dog was darting along the edge of the water. The creature had grey-brown skin with a pale red belly, and this particular one had a cleft lip which revealed a sabre underneath. It lifted its head up into the air sniffing.

"Is that a gorgonopsid?" Amelia asked. They had actually considered rescuing a gorgonopsid initially but chose to go for the Estemmenosuchus instead. The gorgonopsids were a suborder of therapsids which lived during second half of the Permian period; like all other therapsids it had a mixture of reptilian and mammalian features which the creature before them clearly had as well. Just like a gorgonopsid it had the rectangular, box-shaped head and sabre-teeth. Quite often the gorgonopsids were called the first sabre-tooth. Very likely…

"No actually," Phil replied. "It's a therapsid in a group called biarmosuchians. Two biarmosuchians live in this area, Biarmosuchus and Eotitanosuchus. I can't tell which it is though."

Kimberly reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of binoculars. "I'll find out for you." Amelia had been teaching her how to estimate the size of an animal from a distance. In the present day this had the benefit of identifying whether it was a male or female, or how old the animal was. Now that they were millions of years in the past doing this could identify what species it is, (something especially useful seen as how rare it was for skin, feathers and soft-body parts were preserved). "Over two metres."

"Has to be Eotitanosuchus then."

The biarmosuchian sniffed the air and showed them what the paste the Estemmenosuchus produced was used for.

 **Meanwhile, back at Prehistoric Park, Bob and park vet Jesse are getting ready for the newest arrivals which should be coming soon…**

The mother Struthiomimus nosed the covered egg with her snout. Anytime soon the eggs should hatch and Prehistoric Park should have its first baby dinosaurs. _The first baby dinosaurs in over 65 million years._ The father came with several twigs in his beak and dropped them on one of the covered eggs before nosing at them with his beak.

"I wonder why those other eggs aren't covered," Jesse said next to him.

 **Prehistoric Park's Struthiomimus flock was rescued just before the asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs hit the planet. Since then they've managed to breed and lay a few eggs in very peculiar patterns.**

Suzanne had theorised that the strange egg laying behaviour was done to create an equal mix between male and female chicks when the eggs finally hatched. Jesse, in contrast, thought that being pregnant in a time of increased volcanic activity followed by immediate transferal to the future had messed up the dinosaur's usual behaviour. Bob had no idea himself. He was more concerned with the eggs hatching. _Let's just hope the trikes don't like eggs when they've hatched._ Initially five nests had been created by the Struthiomimus, each with twelve eggs, so Bob had been hoping that maximum they would get sixty new Struthiomimus. He knew though that the exact number would be fewer than that but there was at least going to be many new Struthiomimus. Three days ago, however, the max number went from sixty to forty-eight. One of the Struthiomimus had made a nest in the farthest end of the Triceratops enclosure which everyone assumed was initially okay. That is until a Triceratops stumbled on the nest, scared off the parents and proceeded to eat the eggs.

"When have Triceratops ever eaten eggs?" Bob had furiously asked Phil. What good was it to create a breeding population of dinosaurs if others ate their eggs? Then he remembered that herbivores have been known to eat meat; hippos have even been seen eating their own in the wild! Phil had also mentioned how ceratopsians had hard beaks which could easily crack bone. They had theorised that trikes would eat eggs, and maybe meat, if they stumbled across it if to intake extra nutrients, which they ended up proving when they placed a bone from the Tyrannosaur enclosure in Charles's enclosure. In two snaps of his beak the trike had snapped the bone into pieces for the juicy marrow inside. Ceratopsians, like many modern herbivores, from there definitely supplemented their diet with eggs, meat and marrow. With two of the trikes creating nests yesterday he just hoped that they omitted their own eggs in this diet supplementation…

"Hopefully they'll hatch soon and we can see why they're organised like that."

 **Back in Permian Russia, the secret of the Estemmenosuchus liquid excretion has been discovered.**

The Eotitanosuchus sniffed a tree which also happened to have the Estemmenosuchus secretion smeared on the trunk. Mike burst out into fits of laughter when the therapsid seemed to shudder before running off in the opposite direction. _That's the purpose; it smells bad to scare off predators!_ "This must be why Ekatrina is hardly eating. She's not comfortable because there's none of those scent secretions to assure her safety so she's not eating. Now that she's not eating she can't give off those secretions properly."

"So it's an unhealthy cycle," Kimberly replied. "You know what? Could we rescue a few of these ones?"

"In theory we could," Phil responded pondering watching an Estemmenosuchus clamp a fish in its jaws. "I did ask Igor take us to when they were rare. If we rescue a few we won't wreck the local environment and we get a few Estemmenosuchus able to produce the secretion."

 **Unless if the team are willing to wade into the marsh after the Estemmenosuchus they will have to think of a better method to rescue them…**

Amelia walked along the edge of the marsh looking for any sign of a common trail used by the Estemmenosuchus. They seemed to be less aggressive versions of hippos, (albeit from the Permian, with horns and being reptilian), so if they were anything like them behaviour wise they would have a well-worn trail from where they left the water. Hippos always left the water on one trail and, hopefully, the Estemmenosuchus did as well. The others guarded her as she searched for a trail. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the water-dwellers fishing out horsetails, the occasional fish and water plants for food. Other than their more placid nature the Estemmenosuchus differed from hippos in some one other way: they would not go into deep water choosing to stay where they could walk. Finally she found a well-worn trail created by the many feet of the Estemmenosuchus.

"Let's place the portal on this trail," she explained highlighting the trail with her hands. "We can just wait until some come out of the marsh along this trail…"

"And boom. Some friends for Ekatrina," Kimberly replied.

She was under no illusions, however, how long they would have to wait. Hippos could stay the entire day in the water only coming out at night. In the meantime she concluded it was best to find somewhere safe to wait out until the Estemmenosuchus left the water. As they were about to go to a few gingko trees Jean pointed out something. There was a muddy burrow with a very strong, musky scent coming from it. It had a remarkably similar scent to the liquid which the Estemmenosuchus rubbed on the side of trees. Suddenly an Estemmonosuchus burst from the hole. It was half the size of a human with two projections on the side of each head whereas the ones currently wading around the marsh only had one. The small Estemmenosuchus had black skin as well. Standing in a sprawling gait it snapped its jaws angrily at them.

"Ya little shit!" Mike cried as it gave a mock charge at him. She guessed it to be the size of a pygmy hippo if she could link it to anything. It grunted, moaned and snapped repeatedly at them.

"What is it? A baby one?" Kimberly asked. That could be a logical conclusion seen as the side horns could fuse… "Hey!" It gave another mock charge which almost knocked her over. Her last bruise made her wince as she backed out of the way.

"Entirely different species. Estemmenosuchus mirabilis," Phil cried. Amelia had them back away from the burrow. Satisfied that it had scared the intruders off the Estemmenosuchus waddled back into its burrow again. Eagerly Phil ran up and forced another set of portal sticks into the ground in front of the burrow. "We'll rescue one for the park!"

 **Now the only thing to do is wait. Luckily the shorter Permian day allows this to not be too much of a strenuous wait.**

The sky had turned a beautiful burning red colour casting shadows over the Permian marsh. They had warned Graham that two species of Estemmenosuchus would come to the park and as soon as the land became bathed in the red light the smaller Estemmenosuchus exited its burrow. A camera placed down the burrow found that only one horned beast sleeping down below which made rescuing it easier. As soon as its face exited the burrow Phil opened the portal and it vanished.

"Come on, let's go get some bigger ones!" he said happily pressing the top of the stick causing the blue void to vanish. Just as they reached the edge of the marsh the first Estemmenosuchus left the water. It grunted, shook itself and walked forward. The darkness of its horns indicated a male. They remotely opened the portal and the Estemmenosuchus walked straight through it. A female and her youngster, with far shorter horns, exited the water to vanish as well. Another female ambled out before they decided to close the portal and go home.

 **Let's just hope that the team's radical plan of rescuing more Estemmenosuchus would help Ekatrina start to eat again.**

Amelia was glad that other than some worrying malnourishment the Estemmenosuchus were in full health with no pathogens allowing them to be moved into their new enclosure. All what had to be done was build a burrow, smeared with Estemmenosuchus secretion, for the smaller species to sleep in. Amelia could have cried with happiness when the new therapsids rubbed themselves on the sides of the enclosure leaving behind a thick substance. _They may be malnourished but not as much as Ekatrina._ Ekatrina sniffed the air. Then she started eating and not just the tiny bites that she had taken earlier but much larger chunks of plants.

"Thank god," she said relieved.

Over the next two days Ekatrina's weight grew exponentially. Amelia was watching the Estemmenosuchus tear into a fish when a special call came along…

 **The Estemmenosuchus aren't the only new arrivals at Prehistoric Park today…**

The egg rocked. A crack suddenly ran across the blue-green shell. One of the parents nudged it with its beak and grasped it in its beak. There was a small crack and suddenly from the shell a bloody but fluffy chick came from the egg. The parent nudged it and it started clucking.

"Our first baby dinosaur!" Suzanne said happily. A third egg cracked and a squalling chick came out. One of the parents grasped one of the uncovered eggs in its beak and cracked it to allow the liquid insides to pour out which the chicks started to drink up with their small tongues darting out of their beaks to lick up the amber liquid.

"It laid an unfertilised egg?" Bob asked.

"That's quite a brilliant strategy," Amelia said. "Hell Creek was full of things that would eat eggs like raptors, oviraptors, lizards, mammals, baby Tyrannosaurs and loads more things. Having a few fake eggs would be helpful and there's the added bonus of them being a good protein boost for the hatchlings."

The chicks cooed as their parents looked lovingly down at them. Prehistoric Park's first attempt to breed prehistoric life has been a success.

 **Rescued this chapter:**

5 Estemmenosuchus uralensis 3 male, 2 female

1 Estemmenosuchus mirabilis 1 female

 **Seen but not rescued:**

Eotitanosuchus olsoni

Ulemosaurus svijagensis

 **Trivia:**

 **1\. Back in Phase One I was planning this mission and debated whether to go for a gorgonopsid, Dimetrodon or Estemmenosuchus. As the Estemmenosuchus is not as known as either Dimetrodon or the gorgonopsids that's why I went with Estemmenosuchus.**

 **2\. Initially the smaller species was not meant to be rescued at all.**

 **3\. I did plan to have the Ulemosaurus rescued as well but decided to leave it be.**

 **Notes:**

 **Everyone please vote on my poll, which can be found on my profile, and if you have any questions about Prehistoric Park going from 2020 to 2025 please ask me as I'll make a Park Story about it.**


	20. Mission 12- Giant Croc

**There is something missing from our world. Over ninety-nine percent of life that time has left behind. What if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever?**

 **Shinchoku Co. has sent a wildlife explorer and a palaeontologist to plunge into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. The plan: to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.**

 **On the final mission of Phase Two they plan to go to Brazil 8 million years ago. They plan to rescue possibly the largest known crocodilian.**

 **Extinction has gone extinct. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.**

 **Mission 12- Giant Croc**

 **The final mission of Phase Two is underway. During this phase of Prehistoric Park among the animals rescued include the last of the stegosaurs, Wuerhosaurus, the bizarre Permian reptile Estemmenosuchus, and the primate Darwinius. Today a more recognisable creature is being rescued.**

Bob threw a chunk of meat into the water which frothed and boiled as the two crocodiles fought virulently over it. The two mugger crocodiles, Danger and Ida, were Prehistoric Park's most recent extant residents to match the kea, tuatara, red eyed loris, red-necked wallaby, and great spotted kiwi. The two muggers were found during a black market raid so Hiroshi happily agreed to have them at the park. Although, with them being large reptiles they seemed to be right at home among the dinosaurs that the park exhibited. He threw another piece and Ida managed to jump from the water, grasp it in her jaws, and slam back into the water sending it a pink colour. He was dreading the next animal they planned to bring back to the park…

There were footsteps on the bridge and as he turned around he came face to face with the skull of an extremely large crocodile. A skull which could easily fit half of a mugger crocodile in... It was so large that five people, including Phil, had to hold it. Amelia stood with her arms folded simultaneously rolling her eyes at Phil's performance for the camera. _It's bigger than I thought._ "So this is going to be our new croc? Big fella."

"The largest crocodilian to ever live. It went from here…" They dropped the skull and Phil ran several metres away. "To here!" Bob gave a sharp exhale of breath. Phil was twice the length of the largest crocodilian still alive, the saltwater crocodile, away from where he stood. _This thing was huge!_

"Purussaurus," Amelia explained. "At a max of thirteen metres long this caiman is currently the largest known crocodilian. We plan to rescue Purussaurus brasiliensis which started to vanish eight million years ago."

 **Growing between 12.5 and 13 metres the Purussaurus was the largest crocodilian ever dwarfing the current largest crocodilian, the saltwater crocodile. However, the size of the caiman made it very susceptible to environmental change. Today we want to expand the Amazon but it was the Amazon's expansion which caused the Purussaurus' extinction as the rivers, floodplains and lakes that it was used to shifted.**

Bob had prepared an enclosure adjacent to the mugger crocodile enclosure which was thankfully near the portal and holding pens. He didn't fancy having to escort a gigantic caiman from the holding pens to its new enclosure. He walked with the time travellers to the portal carrying their gear: two inflatable boats, a drone, and the communicator which Jean carried. He just hoped that all that was enough to rescue the largest known crocodilian. A common sight now the portal opened with its familiar blue mirage which offered a faint glimpse to the past and the strange singing sound that it made.

"Remember to use the right set of portals," he said patting them on the back and hugging Kimberly. They had developed an outdoor pool for larger freshwater animals being rescued so if the wrong portal was used the Purussaurus would be walking over the sand of the holding pens. "Be careful and remember…never smile at a crocodile." Amelia laughed and kissed him on the cheek before vanishing through to the Miocene. "When they're off chasing crocodiles I have other worries: ten Struthiomimus chicks!"

They slipped through the portal and instantly they were transported from the Nga Rara islands in the middle of the Pacific to the tropical rainforest of the Amazon. However, despite travelling to the other side of the world, and several million years back in time the conditions were virtually the same. Even down to the annoying insects which hungrily buzzed around their heads eagerly waiting for a chance to land on their skin to drink up their blood. Already Mike was furiously slapping his skin as mosquitoes tried to bite him. If Igor hadn't told them that their actions were written in time, (thus allowing them to travel in time to start with), she would have chastised him for slapping the mosquitoes. That didn't stop her, however, from having a mischievous idea to tell him not to slap the bugs in case he caused time to implode or something. _Best not or he'll get too scared to move._ The jabs that they had should cover any disease which the bugs carried.

"Welcome to the Miocene," she said happily. "This time in the planet's history was really exciting. The first kelp forests arrived, India started pushing against China forming the Himalayas, Australia moved to a drier climate and, grasslands started to replace forests. In the new grasslands of Chad in a million years an ape called Toumai lived who could stand upright. Toumai and the other Sahelanthropus could very well be our ancestors." She impressed herself that she remembered all of that. Now with the introduction over she could think of a plan to first find a Purussaurus. Thankfully with it being a caiman it limited the area where they had to search; unlike crocodiles caimans lack salt glands so they cannot go into salt water.

"Jean could you use the drone to go over the river to see if you can spot anything?" she asked. There was a possibility that it could work. With the drone only being able to see visible light this limited the potential of seeing a Purussaurus but they might still be able to see one parting the river to breathe, or one swimming on the water's surface. Saying that they could easily mistake a log for a crocodile. _Better mistaking a log for one instead of the other way around._ "I remember I was in Kenya watching hyenas at night by the water's edge. Completely pitch black. I was testing these infra-red goggles and went to throw my bag on a log. Well crocodiles are cold blooded…"

"Shit," Kimberly replied. "What happened?"

"Bit in half. Guts everywhere," Mike stepped in.

"Asshole. That must have been scary."

"At least we won't have the same problem with Purussaurus," Phil replied. "It's a bit too big for that." Now they could no longer hear the buzzing of the drone as it became lost to the lapping of the river, the buzzing of insects, the chattering of birds and, the howls of monkeys. On Jean's screen they could not see any sign of Purussaurus. The brown waters gently washed over fallen branches and rocks as it meandered through the Amazon. _What was that?_ At the side of the riverbank, but not on the bank itself, was something clearly crocodilian. She could not tell what species it was although just from looking at it Amelia could tell that it far exceeded the saltwater crocodile in length. "Is that Purussaurus?"

"I can't tell," Phil said glumly. "Three giant crocodilians lived in this area: Purussaurus, Mourasuchus and, Gryposuchus. Purussaurus was a caiman, Mourasuchus was in the alligator family and, Gryposuchus was a gavialoidea."

"I can tell now that that is not Gryposuchus," Amelia theorised looking at the crocodile on the screen. "If Gryposuchus is like the other gavialoidea it would have a thin snout." She saw the confused expressions on Mike's and Kimberly's faces. "Sorry gharials and false gharials make up the gavialoidea. Let's get on the boats and go to the crocodilian. Watch the waters though; we don't want to be attacked."

 **Amelia is right to be wary. Crocodilians can easily sneak up on boats thanks to millions of years of adaptation as ambush predators. They even have to be careful of the Gryposuchus; although gharials have a diet of only fish and crustaceans the false gharial has been known to kill people. With the size of the Gryposuchus there is a possibility of that the extinct one sharing this diet.**

With the oars muffled the only sound they made was that of a soft, gentle splosh as the oars gently tapped the surface of the river to propel them forwards. Alongside the cacophony of calls from the forest the muffled oars were easily drowned out by the rest of the Amazon. Amelia could see nothing on the river's surface which would indicate the presence of a crocodile, a giant one or of normal size. Above the trees, whose branches stretched over the river, she could see brightly coloured macaws flying from one side to the other making loud caws as they flew. Normally she would have relished the opportunity to be in the Amazon rainforest, especially without the human encroachment, but she could not enjoy it when there was a possibility of being attacked by a giant crocodile.

"Look! Look! Look!" Mike pointed at the side of the boat. A singular large head pierced the water and proceeded to sink beneath the river once more. Her heart stopped. According to Jean the crocodilian he had seen was a mile upstream near the entrance to a floodplain. Quite clearly they were nowhere near a floodplain. There was a rattling on the side of the boat and she realised that it was her shaking which causing the rattling. Amelia tried to steady herself as she searched for the crocodilian. Suddenly it resurfaced near the second boat, immediately circling it curiously, as Kimberly went extremely pale. Like the saltie it had dark grey-green scutes with big black squares dotting the body. It opened its mouth and…it had tiny teeth. They seemed dull as well. The giant crocodilian snapped its jaws shut sending Amazonian water spraying over Kimberly, who did not look pleased. Up close it seemed to look very different from the crocodilian they saw earlier.

"Is this Mourasuchus?" she asked. It had a very different jaw to Purussaurus and Gryposuchus so by process of elimination it had to be Mourasuchus.

"It is!" Phil yelled from the other boat which the Mourasuchus was now circling. "The filter-feeder!" _A filter-feeding crocodile?_ "They swam along the bottom of rivers searching for food." To Kimberly's dismay it splashed out of the water drenching her head to foot but, as it splashed she could see the throat sac similar to what pelicans had. It was a unique crocodilian; instead of competing with Purussaurus and Gryposuchus it had evolved to take a different ecological niche instead. After it bumped the boat again and almost sent the others flying into the river she called for them to go to the shore.

"It probably came to the surface to warm itself up and thought our boats were a threat," Kimberly said still dripping with Amazonian water. "Only thing to explain the big asshole drenching me." Phil seemed to have a glimmer in his eye and he muttered how it was going extinct.

 **Just like the Purussaurus the Mourasuchus will be driven to extinction by the Amazon's changing course. Unfortunately it has two strikes against it: its big size and its fragile ecological niche. This means it can perfectly fit in at Prehistoric Park.**

Amelia forced the portal sticks into the soft mud. As they were forced into the ground the mud squelched. If she was trying to rescue any other crocodilian she would use bait but it was hard to find bait for a filter-feeding crocodilian. Except that she could use the earth itself. As crocodilians were cold-blooded they needed the rays of the sun to warm themselves, or face freezing themselves. It would only be a matter of time before the Mourasuchus surfaced and when it did they could open the portal. It also gave Kimberly plenty of time to change out of her wet clothes into dry ones, (something which caused Mike's eyes to almost leave their skull).

"Giant herbivorous birds, seagull sized dragonflies, sea monsters from half a billion years ago and now giant, filter-feeding crocodiles," Kimberly laughed. "What's next for Prehistoric Park?" _Hopefully an even bigger carnivorous caiman._ There was a heavy thud as the Mourasuchus first exited the river. It lifted up its huge head and gave a low hiss, signature of all crocodilians. Amelia noticed a pale pouch on the bottom of the head where it would gather fish for food. Suddenly the portal opened and the crocodilian vanished through. When the tip of its scaly tail slunk through the portal Phil closed it.

With the Mourasuchus now at the park the time travellers got into their respective boats and pushed off into the river. A mile ahead was a floodplain which, according to Phil, the Purussaurus was most at home in. The Purussaurus which Jean saw earlier must have been making its way to the floodplain from the river. Gently they paddled over the river watching the oars gently rise up and down as they pushed their way closer and closer to the floodplain. A smile crept along her face remembering how Bashir had practically begged them to take him with them. It was a shame that his broken arm after his fall prevented him from coming along; maybe the aquatic mission they had for Phase Three would cheer him up after being left out this time. Splash, splosh, splash, splosh went their oars as they methodically paddled on.

Something pierced the river. It was over a metre in length with eyes. _No log has eyes._ Suddenly the shape opened revealing it to be a mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth which proceeded to sink themselves into the boat. There was a horrific splintering noise, and the back end of her and Mike's boat splintered off in the caiman's mouth. Water and silt poured into the back of the boat as quickly as a towel soaked up water. All crocodilians had a weak spot with their eyes so that's where she hit with all her force. The caiman hissed as the oar made contact with its eye and it soon swam back down into the depths. It's back brushed the bottom of their boat as it swam underneath making them jolt forward. Amelia and Mike paddled to the riverside but by the time they reached the shore the water had gone up to their waists.

"Jesus that thing has a powerful bite," Mike said as they pulled the remains of the boat out of the river. The Purussaurus had taken a chunk of it as if it was a piece of celery. When the Hyneria had bit it there were only a few marks on the plastic... "I just hope we can handle it."

 **Meanwhile, back at the park, Bob and Suzanne are dealing with some of the park's residents which are very different from a giant, bone-crushing caiman. More chicken than crocodile…**

"A filter-feeding crocodilian?" Suzanne asked. When she had heard that a large crocodilian had come through the portal she had just assumed that it was their first Purussaurus. Jesse had opted to give the reptile a check-up so she had only learnt its true nature when Bob had come to tell her. Luckily Bob had an extra enclosure built for a giant crocodile judging by the fact that two other giants lived alongside Purussaurus and Phil had some sort of morbid obsession with things that wanted to kill you.

"It's been at the bottom of its lake for some time now." She would have to go see the Mourasuchus later. Right now the new Struthiomimus chicks were her main priority. Two of the clutches had produced three chicks whereas the other two had produced two chicks. Right now in front of her three extremely fluffy chicks were dogging the tail of their father. They looked up at him with deep grey eyes and eagerly chirruped at him for attention. It was a far more pleasant noise than the squawks and honks of their parents.

 **Prehistoric Park's Struthiomimus were rescued shortly before the asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs hit. Some happened to be pregnant when they were rescued and now the first clutches of eggs had hatched delivering the first baby dinosaurs in over 66 million years.**

Struthiomimus chicks learned to walk quickly and were soon following the father's every footsteps as soon as they could. The father very rarely left the nest, to protect the chicks, so the mother instead would go out to bring food for both her mate and the chicks. Meanwhile, the father would show the chicks how to forage which they copied extremely clumsily. It transpired that they were equally as defensive as their chicks as they were the eggs as the baby Triceratops found to its dismay. Several scratches on its face were enough to scare it off from going after any other Struthiomimus.

"Little tykes," she heard Bob chuckle. He put a hand to his headset. "Our time travellers have come back without a Purussaurus." He seemed grave. "They're forming a new plan because one almost bit a boat in half."

 **Going from one of Prehistoric Park's newest residents to some of the oldest Morarji is with the park's resident Stenaulorhynchus rescued from Triassic Tanzania.**

"Over here! Over here!" he yelled. The big male looked at him and started making gurgling noises of aggression at him. As the Stenaulorhynchus started making noises at Morarji in his jeep the rest of the herd diverted their attention to him. "Over here!" As he had captured the attention of the rhynchosaurs the keepers ran in with shovels to clean up their faeces. Rhynchosaurs produced a tonne of waste which could be used for the geothermal energy plant, and for fertilizer. However, they still were fairly territorial around humans and their teeth could cause serious damage.

"Stenaulorhynchus will happily attack someone in their territory!" he yelled at the camera in the back of his jeep. "Thank goodness we have had no attacks so far, but it's better to be safe than sorry!"

The keepers quickly started shovelling as quickly as they could. It would be easier if they had a quarantine area to keep them while they did this, as they did with the other animals. They did have an area but it was impossible to get them into it thanks to their stubbornness. He had a feeling that if they hadn't been dying of dehydration Amelia wouldn't have been able to get them through the portal. After a few minutes of intense shovelling, and cries from the Stenaulorhynchus, the keepers jumped into their truck and proceeded to swiftly drive to the exit. Morarji breathed a sigh of relief. _There must be an easier way to do this!_

 **After their failed attempt to hunt for a Purussaurus the team are trying another time. Hopefully this time they would be doing the hunting instead of the other way around.**

The jeep bounded through the portal and onto the ground of the floodplain. It was a unanimous decision to abandon paddling up the river to the floodplain following the attack of the Purussaurus. Their jeep disturbed something in the mud before them which turned out to be the largest turtle she had ever seen. After dislodging itself from the mud it submerged itself in the waters of the floodplain to protect itself from the new threat. Amelia guessed it to be over two metres long.

"Stupendemys," Phil said as the carapace of the turtle vanished into the water. "Only just evolved. I didn't think they would be found this early. Those amazing turtles were even larger than the Archelon of the Cretaceous making them the largest turtles." By the looks of Kimberly and Mike comparing it to Archelon had no use. "Let's go from looking at the largest turtle to the largest crocodilian."

All of them climbed into the jeep bar Amelia who remained on foot to guide the vehicle through any unseen traps. One unseen patch of water could cause the wheel to get trapped, and in turn get the jeep trapped. The mud of the plains squelched under her boots as they went further and further into the heart of the floodplain. Hidden in the long grasses which made up the floodplains frogs croaked and sung gleefully. Occasionally a large mosquito buzzed near her ear causing her to wave her arms in front of her face to scare off the insects. Quite gladly she would have used bug spray but the intense aroma could easily attract something unwanted. Every few steps she scanned the edge of the floodplains for signs of a Purussaurus, or maybe even a Gryposuchus. At noon, after two hours of walking, she swapped over with Phil. The only sign of animal life was the infrequent bird which became startled from the jeep, another Stupendemys emerging from the water for breath, a snake which slithered over the water's surface, and a crocodile that did not happen to be any of the three big species. This crocodile was around the size of a black caiman. It stared at them with its beady, reptilian eye before sinking back into the water.

"Not a single thing!" Kimberly said bored. "Why can't we find a single Purussaurus?"

 _They're going extinct; that's why._ It took another hour of driving, and walking, before they found signs of a Purussaurus. In fact there happened to be many Purussaurus. The floodplain had widened to create a huge lake where the giant crocodilians were making their home. On the far side of the bank she managed to count a dozen of the giants, and she managed to count a further dozen floating lazily on the surface of the lake. Quite likely there were more Purussaurs swimming at the bottom of the lake to escape the warmth of the sun.

"Christ, there're loads of them," Kimberly said. They weren't spoiled for choice choosing a Purussaurus to rescue, that's for sure. On the other side of the lake was a herd of ungulates around the size of a rhino. In fact they almost resembled a rhino except that they lacked a horn, instead having a large lump, and, they were covered in an extremely thin layer of brown and white fur similar to that of a tapir. Were they some sort of ancient tapir? She asked Phil.

"No these are an extinct group of animals called toxondontids. Charles Darwin actually discovered the first toxodon when travelling with the _HMS Beagle_. Although that was Toxodon; what we have before us is Trigodon."

Although the size of a white rhino the Trigodon seemed to be perfect size for a crocodilian the size of Purussaurus. No other extant crocodilians would dare attack an animal the size of the Trigodon, not even a saltie, but Purussaurus she was sure was up to the challenge. _Just look what it did to the boat._ Some of the older Trigodon were looking tentatively at the lake before they dared drink from the lake; most probably from past experiences with fully grown Purussaur. Except for one young one who had waded into the water up to its knees…

"Look that young one's just gone in without hesitation," she cried.

 **This young Trigodon is going to show his herd why drinking by Purussaur infested water requires upmost care.**

The water exploded. Kimberly screamed. Jean swore and Mike cried out in alarm. The young Trigodon gave a cry of alarm to no avail. The impressive jaws of the Purussaur grasped around the body of the Trigodon to enable it to drag the poor beast into the water and to its death. The cries suddenly stopped as it was swallowed up by the water. Suddenly it popped up further into the lake with the jaws of the caiman wrapped around it with several more swimming to the corpse. Suddenly the caiman holding onto it started flipping over with the body. She saw its legs, then its belly, then the other legs, then the back, then the legs and so on.

 **The Purussaurus is performing a death roll. Crocodilians do this to drown their prey and to get a better hold of the kill. The poor Trigodon is drowning.**

The caiman stopped rolling but the water still frothed as caiman after caiman managed to pull strips from the battered corpse sending the surface of the water a pink colour. One managed to grab the body and descend into the depths with it. It was not uncommon for crocodilians to bury their kills in sand at the bottom of rivers, wait until they decompose, and then eat them. It was a grisly aspect of their diet. The attack had scattered the Trigodon herd in the opposite direction to the lake. However, Amelia noticed there were marks on the lakeside. On closer inspection they appeared to be drag marks.

"Crocodiles drag themselves onto land," she explained. "We can use this to our advantage." Unexpectedly Phil had a plan. He had brought several wooden posts and some rope from the park. Phil had them sent the posts up in a winding s-shape before tying them together with the length of rope. At the end of the s he set up the portal sticks.

"My plan is to act as bait," he started with Mike saying words along the lines of _'Are you mad?'_ "I'll splash the water to attract the attention of a Purussaurus, it'll chase up and, followed me through our posts. It'll get slowed down because crocodilians struggle to manoeuvre tight spaces, and this is made worse by its size. When I run past the portal we open it and send it through."

"Phil I think there might be a problem…"

"Pish-posh Amelia. We can improvise like we always do."

 _I'll refrain from saying I told you so._ Phil grabbed a spare post and walked to the water. With one loud splash he hit the surface with post, followed by another, and another, and another. With each periodic splash the water was sent flying into the air. All the while Phil stared intently at the water. Suddenly a pair of eyes popped out of the water before instantly descending back down below. Phil stopped splashing. The water then exploded. He dropped the post and ran to this makeshift trail…except the Purussaurus did not follow. It stayed at the side of the lake hissing. Eventually it lost interest, despite Phil trying to attract it by dancing in front of it, and went back down below.

"Why didn't it work?" he asked.

"Crocodilians are built for ambush; not chase. They'll tire themselves out chasing an animal which escaped. Although you have given me an idea."

Crocodilians would only follow an animal out of the water on one exception: if it was badly injured. At the back of the jeep they kept a cooler which contained various foodstuffs to act as bait, including meat chunks and offal. As soon as she took it out of the cooler huge black flies started to buzz around it, hungry for the rancid meat. Crocodilians had a far better sense of smell, touch and, hearing compared to humans which she could use to her advantage. At the front of the jeep was a speaker system which had up to five-hundred noises of various animals, two of which was an American alligator's territorial below and the mating call of a male.

"This speaker is waterproof so I'll put it in the water. I'll spread some offal through Phil's trap and put the rest in the water. A mixture of me splashing, the blood, and the speaker should be enough to attract a Purussaurus."

"Just remember to wash her hands next time you eat," Kimberly replied looking at the putrid blood on Amelia's hands. She grabbed the post that Phil had dropped and started hitting the water's edge. As she started this Jean started playing the territorial boom from the speaker; which in turn caused the water to vibrate. _Come on, come on. Take the bait._ She saw a pair of eyes slowly exit the water and then descend back down into the depths. "That one's beginning to lunge." She dropped the post and started backing off. Suddenly like a bullet a Purussaurus, larger than any crocodile, exploded from the water hissing. It could smell the blood trail and see Amelia…so it gave chase. Despite what everyone said zig-zagging was not the best way to escape a crocodilian, but instead just running forward was the best. Although it was easy to outrun a crocodile they had stupidly fast accelerating speeds which meant it would soon catch her if she didn't reach the posts.

She sped past the first pair of posts and soon after heard the thuds of the Purussaurus following behind. She turned the sharp left where the portal was. There were sounds of splintering wood as the Purussaurus tried to navigate through the post trail after her. It hissed angrily and snapped its jaws. She passed the portal and suddenly she felt a breeze. Not long after Phil ran over and closed it. All that was left indicating a Purussaurus had been there was the footprints, broken posts, and a thin trickle of water from when the portal opened. Amelia then collapsed, completely exhausted, and laughed. "I must be mad."

"I've been telling you that for months," Mike said giving her a bottle of water. Before they could catch a second for the park they would have to fix the trail. Three posts had to be replaced after the Purussaurus' tail had slammed into them, almost snapping them in two. Unfortunately they had to use their bait post to replace a broken one. On the plus side Jean managed to find a branch as a substitute. Phil this time volunteered to be the bait. _Saw a chance to get killed by an extinct animal and he's taking it._ Before they could catch a second one they had to make sure that the first one was out of the holding pool; it seemed too small to properly hold two Purussaurs.

"Hey Graham," she said through her headset. "Have they managed to move the Purussaurus out of the pool yet?"

"Literally just now. Jesus Christ that thing's massive. Wait, are you getting another one?"

"Yeah we are."

"How the hell did you catch that one in the first place never mind a second?" She smiled. "A mixture of splashing and using ourselves as bait." Graham's reply happened to rhyme with clucking shell. When she told Phil it was all clear he grasped hold of his branch tightly and walked to the water's edge with his branch. They started playing the mating call through the speaker as Phil slapped the water with his branch. Suddenly there was another pair of eyes…then the explosion. Luckily Phil got away as the Purussaur burst from the lake. It angrily hissed at him as it followed him through their artificial maze. During the turn its tail got caught in the post so with one flick it splintered them easily. Phil darted past the portals and Amelia opened it. "Thank god that's over."

 **With two Purussaurus safely back at Prehistoric Park it is time to return home.**

They emerged in the sandy holding pens. Amelia got out of the jeep as the portal closed behind them. Prehistoric Park's new holding pen was behind the terrestrial pens so she walked through where the portal once was, passing the gigantic wire-meshed structure of the aerial holding pen, so she could get to the pool pen. At twenty feet deep, one hundred and fifty feet long and ninety feet wide it put a smile on Amelia's face; Prehistoric Park's pool pen was already the same size as one of the orca tanks at SeaWord San Diego. Currently the new Purussaurus was hiding at the bottom of the tank eyeing the workers around the side as a prospective meal.

"Big one they are," Bob laughed. "Easily over twelve metres." Amelia walked to the side of the pool, safely steep enough to stop a croc from bursting out, to look at the caiman. Without the silt found in the Amazon she could clearly see the green caiman lounging at the bottom. A loud beeping noise echoed around the pool as the transport truck edged itself towards the pool. There was a sudden splash. The back doors of the truck, open to quickly let the caiman in, had banged the back of a keeper and sent her flying into the water. Her head, drenched in water, bobbed out of the pool and she froze. Down in the depths the caiman started to move.

Swearing as they went Amelia and Bob ran to the side of the pool where the keeper had been knocked in. She had managed to swim to the side but the steepness of the pool prevented her from climbing out. Bob and Amelia laid on their stomachs so they could grasp hold of the keeper's arms before furiously pulling. The keeper's arms were cold and slippery from the water. A green shape was making its way towards the surface. In one big heave they managed to pull the keeper from the water sending droplets flying everywhere. Just then there was a loud snap as the caiman failed to bite down on the keeper.

"Are you alright?" she asked. The keeper nodded as someone forced a big fluffy towel over her. Furious Amelia went to the front of the truck and angrily banged on the window. "What the hell was you doing? You almost got her killed!"

Behind the glass the driver looked rather sheepish. _Let him feel bad. That Purussaurus could have killed that keeper._

 **After the little incident is out of the way and done with Prehistoric Park has another big arrival.**

Since both caimans had been moved to their new enclosure they had descended under the water, not to be seen for several hours. The Mourasuchus had only been seen once since it had been moved to its enclosure. However, the Purussaurus was at the back of Amelia's mind at the moment. She sat with various other staff members looking at the two Tyrannosaurs. Both Leonidas and Sue were gently nudging a pile of twigs, mud, and foliage with their colossal snouts. Hidden among the leaves she could see a green egg. The first Tyrannosaur egg since the Mesozoic.

"Looks like we'll be getting some baby T rex!" Phil laughed.

 **From German primates to horned reptiles to mega-crocs to T rex eggs Phase Two of Prehistoric Park now comes to a close. As Prehistoric Park evaluates its progress so far the team now has to plan their missions for Phase Three, and it looks like they might be going for something that shakes the ground itself…**

 **Rescued this chapter:**

2 Purussaurus brasiliensis 1 male, 1 female

1 Mourasuchus amazonensis 1 female

 **Seen but not rescued:**

Trigodon gaudryi

Charactosuchus (indeterminate species)

Stupendemys (possibly S. souzai)

Indeterminate macaws (not extinct)

Anhinga (not extinct)

 **Trivia:**

 **1\. As you can tell this episode is heavily influenced by the last episode of Prehistoric Park but I wanted to make it more realistic by having the crocodilian actually damage the boat, and have it not chase the time travellers when it leaves the water.**

 **2\. Initially this was going to be for Prionosuchus, which then got briefly changed to Titanoboa, before I went with Purussaurus.**

 **3\. Gryposuchus was meant to appear.**

 **4\. My disdain for SeaWorld springs up again in this chapter which readers of Extinction World and A Keeper's Story know is a common complaint of mine.**

 **5\. The mugger crocodiles at the start were originally going to be Cuban crocodiles.**

 **6\. Watch out for one scene in this appearing in my other project which should have its first chapter up in the upcoming weeks.**

 **Note:**

 **I have all of Phase Three planned out bar one mission. Each person gets three suggestions, (for Phase Three), and my favorite five will be put into a poll. Whichever one gets the most votes will be rescued.**


	21. Prehistoric Diaries- 1

**Prehistoric Diaries- 1**

Stephanie could feel the humidity lying heavily on the air. Her clothes stuck to her body as if they had been glued to her body except that instead of glue it was her own sweat and the archipelago's atmosphere. It was a very picturesque archipelago with the shining blue waters, clear blue sky, white sandy beaches and thick tropical forests full of interesting endangered animals. Some were native to these isles while the rest had been introduced by Shinchoku Co., her new employers. The docks were alive with activity as workers busily rushed around the boat which she had just gotten off to take various goods from it. All she had was a suitcase and a handheld bag, (all the rest of her stuff had already been transported to the islands). Stephanie was tired, her body ached and she had a headache. Two flights, (one to Singapore and then one to Auckland), and then a boat ride to the docks of the Nga Rara islands had left her not in the best of conditions.

A man stood at the end of the docks waving and calling to her. He was balder, pudgier, greyer and shorter than his younger brother but Bob Arthur heavily resembled her old boss, Gary Arthur. It was Gary who had sent her here. "It'll be a new start Stephanie. A new start away from Terry. What's there to lose?" She leant on the fencing watching the zebra graze on the grass in the exhibit before her. To say she was twenty-five and, supposed to be in the prime of her life these zebra and their neighbours at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park had been her life since leaving university.

"Friends, family…" _A possibility of reviving her relationship._ "I don't know Gary. Moving all away to New Zealand is a bit extreme." Gary Arthur was Head Keeper at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, in the north of England, and had become a virtual father figure for her, (even though her own father was still in full health). He had shown her the ropes, took her under his wing, comforted her when Terry stifled her ambitions, and after he had left her. The bubbly figure of Gary had been a huge part of her life. Last month he had come to her to tell her about a job in a wildlife sanctuary on some islands north of New Zealand where his older brother was Head Keeper. This Bob had asked Gary to ask offer any skilled keepers who wanted a position to rise in alongside a new start to send off an application. She had sent off and application, got accepted, (although she felt Gary had some hand in it), and now was having second doubts.

"Stephanie." He looked straight into her brown eyes ignoring the ostrich that was trying to peck him through the fencing. "You said that your friends and family wanted you to take that job." Her parents had virtually walked her through the application and interview stages while her friends had been trying to convince her to live in New Zealand for slightly different reasons. Melanie had mentioned something like meeting a young Russel Crowe to sweep her off her feet after Terry. "It's Terry isn't it?"

She sheepishly nodded her head. Despite what he did she still harboured feelings for him; half of the time she wanted to smash his face in while the other half of the time she wanted to kiss him. "Maybe moving to New Zealand will help you finally move from him?" _Being on the other side of the planet should help me._ Moving on would be far easier when he couldn't send her texts or phone calls pleading with her to take him back. At times she was convinced that moving to the Martian colonies would be a good option; New Zealand wasn't as far but it should send a clear message. Every time she thought she had moved on he would text and sending her mind spiralling into a concoction of emotions.

"Just put your bags in the back of the jeep and I'll show you one of the animals," Bob said as she walked to the end of the docks. Just like Gary he had a warm, smiling face. _I get to see one of the secretive animals already?_ She had been given a week to settle in so she assumed during that week she would have a look at the world's rarest animals then. When she had finally got the job Stephanie had to sign a contract which forbade her from talking about any of the animals the wildlife sanctuary had until it opened to the public or risk a crippling lawsuit which made Greece's debts look trivial. According to this Shinchoku Co. it was because they had the rarest animals in existence and that announcing what animals they had could attract unwanted attention at a time when the sanctuary's security was still being developed. During her second year of university she had managed to do a month volunteering at a nature reserve in Zimbabwe, and she had seen the extreme lengths poachers had gone to hunt the rhinos. Although those poachers were driven out of desperation because selling a rhino's horn could feed their families in neighbouring Mozambique for a long time.

Could they have the rarer rhino species here? Could they have the only Javan rhinos in captivity? All of her trepidation had melted away to be replaced instead by excitement. "Thanks Mr Arthur."

"Call me Bob. Mr Arthur was my dad." _Just like Gary._ She climbed into the jeep's passenger side as Bob gently put her bags in the back of the jeep. When Bob climbed in next to her she realised that it was an electric jeep rather than a traditional one. He drove them past a wall of thick tropical trees full to the brim of chattering birds hidden among the lush foliage. Jutting from the tops of the green in the distance she could see the top of a huge white dome. Steph remembered going to the Eden Project a few years ago which was made up of several biodomes to house tropical and arid plants? It looked like this wildlife sanctuary had built biodomes for non-tropical animals. Bob noticed that she saw the biodome.

"Making them feel right at home. Most of our biodomes are empty right now. We have a few with animals living in them. Oh we also have an aquarium and an aviary." What was the point of having empty biodomes? "So Stephanie. My brother's told me a lot about you. All positive naturally. I'm sure you're going to love it here. We might even help you fulfil your potential here."

She smiled in response. How much had Gary told him? She wasn't entirely sure if she was comfortable with her new employers knowing why she never got past being a zookeeper instead of an animal behaviourist. To avoid further conversation about a past which she wished to forget she started to focus on the trees ahead. They whizzed past and seemed to get thinner and thinner until they passed into an open plain. "This area will eventually have animals living here." Right now the only animal life in the area was some birds flying out from the long grass of the plains. "Stephanie, how much do you know about palaeontology?"

"Palaeontology? Like dinosaurs? Bits and pieces but mostly from _Jurassic Park_ ," she laughed feeling awkward. It was amazing how little long dead reptiles had to do with looking after modern day animals.

"Never mind. You'll find out a lot, and I mean a lot, about palaeontology soon enough." The jeep trundled along making her feel even more awkward and confused. _Gary could have at least told her his brother was odd._ He suddenly stopped the jeep in the middle of nowhere. "Look to your right." She acquiesced to his request. Then her jaw dropped.

Standing in a field of ferns, and the occasional tree, was a quadrupedal animal covered in crocodile-like scutes except for the hindquarters which had short quills like a hedgehog sticking out of it. The head had two horns protruding from above the eyes and a third, far shorter, one on the nose. A red frill bedecked the head as a thick beak snapped up ferns. It looked like nothing which ever walked the planet but she recognised what it was immediately.

"Is…is that a Tri…Triceratops?"

"Yep. Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary." She watched the real, living, actually breathing dinosaur standing and eating in front of her. Bob sat beside her with a look on his face as if seeing a real dinosaur was the most natural thing in the world. She wondered if the first Europeans seeing a giraffe or a rhino had felt the same thing. This explained everything: the secrecy, the intensive interview, and the reclusive islands. All this time they had a Triceratops. "Is that your only one?"

"No we have seven more. That fellow is Charles. Triceratops, although we all call them trikes, live in small herds with only one male. If they don't have a herd they stay by themselves." Eight Triceratops. If they had Triceratops what else did they have? Brontosaurus? Brachiosaurus? Velociraptor? T rex? Bob started the car again and began driving. For virtually all of the rest of the trip she remained in a shocked silence.

"Bet you're wondering how we got a Triceratops?" Bob asked with a smile.

"Did you clone them or something?" That's how they did it in all the books and movies. Although that was in fiction, the thing she saw was real. "We would have cloned them but we hit a snag. Namely the international courts. We will eventually be cloning extinct animals because our way of getting them cannot produce stable populations as well as it being well…unpredictable."

Unpredictable? Bob parked the jeep at the end of some wooden structures with a sign reading _'Holding Pens'_. Going through the centre of the holding pens was a sandy walkway which ended at two pylons adjacent to one another. A bit behind the pylons was a large wire-meshed structure which resembled a bird cage. _A bird cage for a pterodactyl._ "Our boss bought a secret diary of Albert Einstein as a collector's item. Instead of finding secret lovers or talking about his friends he ended up finding blueprints for a time portal. On a whim he put some money behind it and found out Einstein's blueprints were right."

"So he decided to use it to bring dinosaurs from the past?" Bob laughed and shook his head. "It can only go back twelve thousand years. It turns out we can't change the past so he's been using it to help palaeontologists, palaeoethnologists, and to bypass the cloning issue. Although we'll still use the portal when we can start cloning."

An actual time portal bringing dinosaurs from the past. Bob started the jeep again and the holding pens, and time portal, started to vanish behind a series of thick, tropical trees. All this was too much to take in. "How many animal species do you have here?"

"Forty-six species exactly, excluding the wild animals. Six of them are not extinct though and I think you would have only heard of three though. You saw one of them already." Forty extinct animals. She didn't speak for the rest of the trip although Bob made up for her silence. _Not too dissimilar from Gary in that respect._ He spoke of the animals that wildlife park exhibited saying a myriad of unpronounceable names. From what he was saying this wildlife park had an aviary and an aquarium on top of the biodomes. The aviary was probably for pterodactyls and she assumed the aquarium was for those big, aquatic reptiles that lived at the time of the dinosaurs, like those reptiles that people thought the Loch Ness Monster was. _Plesiosaurus._ Her younger brothers were big dinosaur nuts when they were kids. _Tom's doing palaeontology at uni. He'll love it here._ She would have to ask him about that, it'll be useful.

The jeep passed through a tall electrical fence, ('For show when we open' Bob claimed), into a series of interlocking streets with empty building scattered about. Street signs written in three languages were attached to the end of the empty buildings: _Ammonite Avenue, Gingko Street, Pterosaur Street, Pangea Square_. Pangea Square seemed to be the central of this area being surrounded by the only completed buildings including a stylised building looking like a safari lodge with the words _Mary Anning Museum of Paleontology_ written in three languages above the entrance. Bob pointed out a café going by the name of _Cretaceous Cafe_ which sold rich coffee in the morning and icy cold beer at night. Apparently coffee beans were planted on the islands in the nineteenth century which had a very distinctive taste. Bob went down John Hopkins Road and went through some fencing which had a sign reading _Staff Only_. There were four blocks of modern looking flats; one of these would be her new home.

"Which block are you in?"

"Morrison. 4/5." She was given a choice between Morrison, Hell Creek, Messel Pit, and Pierre Shale. Now that she had found out this was a park for dinosaurs she assumed they must be sites where palaeontologists had found dinosaur fossils. Bob parked outside Morrison block and helped her move her bags to floor four, flat five. Underneath the doorbell her name was printed on a piece of paper. "Oh I've got the flat to myself."

"For now at least. Most of our staff comes from the mainland each day which gives us islanders plenty of room." She unlocked her new front door with the set of keys she had been given while still living in Britain. Inside was lit by natural light from the Pacific sun which leaked through the windows adorning her new walls. Several cardboard boxes containing all her worldly possessions, which Terry hadn't pilfered claiming they were his when he left, sat in the centre of the living room in between a coffee table, sofa, and a battered TV stand with a less battered TV. She was pleased to see that there was a balcony which faced the afternoon sun with some nice deckchairs.

"I'll leave you to unpack," Bob said. He handed her a book. "We nicknamed it the bestiary. Contains all the info of animals and plants found on the islands, whether they be wild, extant, or extinct. By the way we've given you some food in your kitchen but there's a shop where you can buy stuff. If you desperately want something that the shop doesn't have you'll have to place an order and it should arrive within the week. Don't drink the water unless if you boil it as well. Well, see you. I have a date with some Hynerpeton."

She waved him goodbye wondering what a Hynerpeton was. Her head was still pounding from a mixture of the several hour long flight to New Zealand and finding out that not only that dinosaurs walked the planet once more, but that time travel, to twelve thousand years ago, was possible. Stephanie looked in the small kitchen for the promised food that Bob had promised. After scouring the fridge and cupboards she found several packets of pasta; a loaf of bread; a lump of margarine; various glasses of pasta sauce; some packets of dried milk; some tea bags; a packet of what turned out to be coffee, (possibly from the islands themselves); some fresh fruit; several bottles of water; some cereals; a jug of orange juice; and a can of potatoes.

"Just like when I was in university." A smile crept onto her face. All those days and nights with her friends joking over boiling pans of pasta and pings of microwaves. Better times before Terry, work problems, and having to move to the other side of the planet to escape both. _And before dinosaurs._ She was too tired to eat so she put some crockery and cutlery into their new homes, packed some of her clothes into a cupboard, and got her pyjamas on. Despite it being bright outside all Stephanie wanted to do was sleep. She closed the blinds in the bedroom which she had claimed for herself and closed her eyes. Sleep instantly took her.

When she woke it was as black as pitch outside with millions upon millions of twinkling stars shining in the night sky. Stephanie looked outside to see massive fruit bats flying out of the tropical trees in the distance. With the thick forest and big bats if she squinted she could imagine herself being millions of years in the past when dinosaurs ruled the world. Despite sleeping for several hours Stephanie still felt tired. Sleep took longer to take her this time. A clamminess had seeped into her flat after the sun had vanished making it uncomfortable. Luckily there was a ceiling fan and she drifted off into oblivion to the rhythmic whirs of the fan.

She woke again at half six in the morning feeling refreshed. Her long sleep must have prevented the jet lag from setting in, or at least delayed it. It was a beautiful morning with the golden sun gently rising over the green tops of the forest sending fiery waves across the sky. She had breakfast on her new balcony being serenaded by the calls of Pacific birds and the morning headlines being broadcast by TVNZ from her TV as old as the animals which the wildlife park exhibited. Wollemia trees swayed gently in the slight early morning breeze sending shining droplets of water from their branches after the early morning rains. In keeping with the rest of the country her balcony had some pots where dark green silver ferns were growing from which made her new home look even more beautiful. When breakfast was finished she changed into some loose fitting clothing to have a look at the 'bestiary'. Initially she had thought the one and a half weeks 'to settle in' were to do exactly that. Now she believed that it was to help get accustomed to the fact that she would be looking after dinosaurs.

The 'bestiary' happened to be a lever arch file split into six: wild plants, wild animals, extant plants, extant animals, extinct animals, and extinct plants. _Prehistoric Park._ It was a nice name. Eagerly she flicked through the bestiary to see what Prehistoric Park had in store for her. She hadn't expected there to be so many wild animals living on the islands: the rare Fijian flying fox, coconut crabs, banded iguanas, collared lorys, and even green sea turtles. However, there were some less than safe animals. There were two species of lionfish, a stone fish species, yellow-bellied sea snakes, and at times saltwater crocodiles had been spotted. Luckily the crocs were a rare sight and the snakes rarely went near humans. What really caught her attention were the forty extinct animals.

It was so exciting reading about the extinct animals. Unlike the entries about the extant or wild animals the ones about the extinct animals went into a tonne of detail about the world it came from, the history of its discovery, diet, and what lived beside it in the wild. It turned out that Prehistoric Park didn't just have dinosaurs. For every dinosaur species there were three non-dinosaur species, (although three of those lived alongside dinosaurs). She learnt so much in only a few minutes. Pterodactyls were really called pterosaurs, (Prehistoric Park currently had one), raptors were capable of climbing trees, fish evolved half a billion years ago. But the T rex as well. Stephanie had been transfixed by the photo of the Tyrannosaurus. _An actual goddamn T rex._ It was straight out of fiction. She wondered what it would be like to actually see…

There was a knock at the door and a call in a thick New York accent. She closed the bestiary and went to the door. A tall African-American woman was standing at the threshold in the green uniform of Prehistoric Park. At barely over five foot four Stephanie had to look up to speak to the woman. Stephanie noticed that she had a gleaming red ruby piercing in her nose. The woman had lovely long braided hair which elegantly slipped over her left shoulder. At a guess Stephanie placed her age around her own. "You Stephanie Rundle?"

"Y…Yeah I'm Stephanie."

"I'm Katrina, Katrina Johnson. Everyone calls me Kat. I live next door and we'll be working together." That took her aback. She didn't expect to meet a colleague this early. "Do you want to come in?"

"Sure. My shift doesn't start in a while." Stephanie moved to let her new colleague enter her flat. "Sorry for the mess. I haven't finished unpacking."

"Eh no worries. My place is still a pigsty." Kat sat down on the sofa and glanced at the bestiary. Stephanie hurriedly closed the door and sat beside Kat. It would be a good idea to cement a friendship with Katrina; not only would she be a good friend to have being just next door, and there was the added benefit of her working with extinct animals. Although she had been working with animals for years it required a huge new set of skills to work with extinct animals. _Maybe I'll be sent to look after the T rex._ "Kat which animal do we work with?"

"All of them." _All of them?_ That couldn't be right. Normally keepers only worked with one group of animal. Not all of them. Her confusion must have been written on her face because Kat elaborated on this strange allocation. "Us two are being groomed to become Deputy Head Keepers. What's the point of hiring keepers from America and Britain if you can just get them from the mainland or Fiji? Tell me, what did you work with back in jolly old England?"

"Ungulates and ratites. And meerkats." Kat nodded. "You've worked with a diverse set of animals already. Us two my girl are going to be Deputy Head Keepers. Maybe something even better. Come on, I can tell you want to be more than a keeper." Gary did say there was a chance she could get promoted, and even became an animal behaviourist. Not once did she think it was strange that she was being hired to be an ordinary keeper on the other side of the world. After that they got chatting. Kat had been working towards becoming a vet until her dad got ill. Until she came to Prehistoric Park she had been working for the Smithsonian National Zoo. She said it was a petting zoo compared to Prehistoric Park. Stephanie explained how she had been working with Bob's brother; she opted to exclude the grisly details of her and Terry's now extinct relationship.

"The animals are fine here," Kat said. "The Anchiornis sometimes try and take my piercing sometimes."

"Those are the black dinosaur birds, aren't they?"

"Yep. Cute things but they'll try and filch everything they can. The Yi are fine though. They never come out during the day and they're shy as well. Sorry the Yi are the dinosaurs with bat wings that live in trees." How would she ever learn all these names? Bob was right in the fact that she had only heard about three animals living in the park, and even then she only knew about the mammoth through its woolly brethren. "Hey don't worry Stephanie you'll get the hang of all these names soon enough. You know what? Come swimming with me and my friends tonight!"

"What?" She had brought swimming gear at the bequest of her friends. Where the hell was this swimming pool? "In one of the warehouses by the holding pens there's this big pool that we're allowed to swim in because…ya know, the heat. Come on, it'll be nice."

It would be a good way to meet other people. "I have literally no plans. Yeah I'll go with you."

Kat was so happy that she hugged Stephanie in a hug which threatened to snap her ribs like some matches. She would be meeting Kat at the holding pens at nine at night which meant she had virtually the entire day to herself. After a quick foray to the shop for extra supplies she decided to head out into the park. _Might as well make the most of seeing the animals without having to look after them._ The notes that she had been given said that eventually a monorail would be made and, in the mornings and evenings there was a bus for keepers. Unfortunately for Stephanie she was too late for one bus, too early for the other, and way too early for the monorail. Not only that, jeeps were allotted only for the chief staff which meant she would have to go by foot. At least it was a fantastic day. The sun dominated a sky void of clouds and the humidity helped stave off the worst of the heat, although it did have an unfortunate side-effect of creating a muggy atmosphere. One of the first things that she had stocked up on insect repellent as a result.

She stopped off at the café that Bob had pointed out the day before for a few bottles of water and soft drink before she set off for her first look at Prehistoric Park. Nearest to Pangea Square was the Herptile and Invertebrate House which adjoined the massive Carboniferous Dome. The pushed open the heavy doors and was hit by heat. Strangely this house was hotter than it was outside. Only two species lived inside the house but she remained excited regardless. Inside the rare tuatara were housed alongside the extinct golden toad. The tuatara themselves seemed to be straight out of prehistory. _Fitting for Prehistoric Park._ Shortly after watching a tuatara sleep on a log for a few minutes she proceeded to spot her second extinct species. The amphibians sparkled in the light making them truly look like gold. What really blew her away was the Carboniferous Dome. As soon as she entered it Stephanie truly felt that she had ventured millions of years back in time. The air seemed so thick that she could bite chunks out of it. Buzzes from dragonflies as big as a seagull hung on the air as the insects flew around the recreated primeval forest.

It was idyllic. Everything around her to be something straight out of a novel and at times Stephanie had to pinch herself to remind herself that this was real. For just a few seconds she held her arm outstretched and one of the great dragonflies landed on her palm. The emerald of the dragonfly's exoskeleton glinted with its translucent wings sparkling with equal beauty. Strangely it felt so light sitting on her palm; lighter than any insect should be. Suddenly it darted off of her arm with a prolonged buzz. Everything else was equally amazing: the giant millipede, the mega-scorpion, the big aquatic salamander creature, and even the early Scottish reptile. After the Carboniferous House she paid a visit to the two mugger crocodiles, then the aviary. Kat was very correct about the Anchiornis: they were cute. However, the cuteness was short lived when one tried to steal the bracelet her grandmother got her a few years ago. The pterosaurs Prehistoric Park had proved to be more promising, (if only because none tried to steal anything from her). Each of the pterosaurs was larger than any flying animal alive today. She felt so privileged to see them nosing their way through the sand after food.

Nine o'clock seemed to come in no time. Stephanie had only managed to look round the aquarium, the early dinosaur Nyasasaurus, some strange herbivorous reptile which lived alongside Nyasasaurus, and the mixed exhibit of Megalonyx and Glyptotherium. Before she knew what was happening she had quickly gone back to her new home, made a quick dinner, and had set off again looking for the holding pens. Under her clothes she wore her swimsuit which made going to the holding pens uncomfortable. The mugginess of the air mixed with the heat of the Nga Rara islands which all were trapped under her swimsuit. What made matters worse was that she had got lost twice making her more anxious. By the time she had found the correct route to the holding pens she was feeling unbelievably hot under the collar. Thankfully by the time she had reached the holding pens the sun had started to vanish behind the horizon which eliminated a source of the relentless heat. Her feet kicked up the sand which comprised the flooring of the holding pens.

"There you are," a recognisable voice said. Kat walked up to her. "I was worried you wouldn't show. The others are coming soon." Kat walked her past the wooden pens until they reached the famous warehouse. Kat typed a code into the keypad by the door which then opened with a loud metallic pop. "The portal was supposed to be in here until the powers that be thought it was safer to have the current holding pens. We still use it sometimes." There was nothing in the warehouse bar two pylons and silvery webs. One of the web architects scurried under their feet as Kat led her to a door on the right side of the warehouse. When they walked through the door they were bathed in coolness and blue light. It was refreshing.

"Check the pool if there's anything in it," Kat said. A chill came over her. The last thing that she wanted was the Loch Ness Monster popping out from nowhere. When she told Kat that nothing was in the water the taller woman stripped off to a black and white bikini before diving into the water. "Come on Stephanie! The water's refreshing."

Timidly Stephanie stripped off to her black swimsuit. Thanks to Terry she had become self-conscious of how she looked. She had a freckly, heart shaped face, wavy chestnut hair which lightly rested on her shoulders, brown eyes which matched her hair, an hourglass figure, and a scar on her stomach from a motorbike accident several years ago. She never felt comfortable about her appearance with Terry; her scar was ugly; she was not overly skinny; her hair was not the right colour; she was too freckly; her nose was the wrong shape; her breasts was too small; she was too short etc. Instinctively she placed a hand over her scar. "Don't worry Stephanie, mine's bigger."

Kat turned around revealing a thin scar running down her back from the right shoulder to her left hip. "Falling off quad bikes in the Rockies is very painful. Would not recommend." Kat dived underwater and shook her long hair as she re-emerged. "Dive in!" She did and cold furiously hit her. It felt fantastic. She couldn't taste any chlorine on her lips. _Stupid. This is where extinct aquatic animals come through._ Three people came through the door in various states of disrobement. One was a Hispanic woman in her late thirties with short black hair. Another was a Caucasian man younger than she was with dirty blond hair tied into long dreadlocks, a hairy chest, and short brown stubble which covered the bottom of his square face. The final person was a Korean man around her age with short hair, glasses, and a triangular face. Almost instantly they all jumped into the pool.

"They better not have another one of those lake monsters in here again," the Caucasian man said shaking his mane of hair. He had one of those stereotypical surfer accents.

"Stephanie checked for us. You won't be missing any feet today," Kat laughed and splashed him with water.

"So you're the new girl," he said looking at her with green eyes. He held out his hand which she took. "Marcus Breznivoff. Another limey and another keeper." Kat leaned over to her. "Three of the head staff are Brits. Amelia Kanda is the Behaviourist so get in with her. She also rescues the animals. She's great, do anything for anyone. Bob you've met who's great. And there's the joint Head Vet Suzanne who's…"

"A hottie," Marcus interjected. "And you're a dick and misogynistic," Kat laughed splashing him again. "Marcus is a ranger."

"Elizabeth de Santa," the woman said. "I'm one of the computer engineers. Worked with Graham who runs the systems to set up Disneyland Seoul. Hence why I'm here now."

"I'm In-Jung Kim but I've been known to go by the name of Jungi. I'm one of the vets. I managed to get here through a mixture of sheer luck and being recommended by the Head Vet at Seoul Grand Park. So Stephanie, how did you get hired?"

"Oh my boss is Bob's brother and managed to direct me to this place," she said sheepishly. "Then let me direct you to these guys!" Marcus yelled pulling some beers out from his rucksack on the side of the pool. He proceeded to hand them out and luckily they had screw lids. It was cold and felt nice on her lips. With the pool and icy cold beer it made her feel like she was in heaven. The others splashed each other as they drank their beer.

"Have you had a look at the park's animals yet?" Jungi asked.

"I few. I couldn't have imagined anything like this before. I managed to go into the aviary earlier and my god it was amazing. Like that pterodactyl, sorry pterosaur, deesungaripterus."

"Dsungaripterus," Kat corrected. "You don't pronounce the d…" She splashed Marcus when he made a crude reference. "You'll learn how to pronounce them soon enough." _If I ever._ "Any of the animals caught your eye so far?"

"I haven't seen it yet but when I was little I liked Stegosaurus so I liked the look of that…woohoosaurus is it?"

"Wuerhosaurus," Elizabeth laughed. "Her spikes are something dangerous though. I saw what she did to that dummy…Don't piss that one off. Personally mine's the Crassigyrinus. Mostly because it also bit Marcus's foot off."

She snorted and felt the beer bubbles tickle her nose. Each of the others said their favourites, (Anchiornis for Kat, the Tyrannosaurs for Marcus, and Edmontosaurs for Jungi). They spent the next few hours drinking, getting increasingly intoxicated, and talking all things Prehistoric Park. If the portal opens during a mission the time travellers have either come back empty handed or brought back an unexpected animal. If you see Hiroshi Komon call him Hiroshi, not Mr. Komon. Phil West the palaeontologist will blame the other palaeontologist for calling the Edmontosaurus Anatosaurus, but if you ask Alfred Steiner he'll blame Phil. Trikes enjoyed eating eggs. No one knew why Hiroshi had hired Kimberly and very few people liked her. In contrast everyone liked Amelia, Jean Duvoir and Phil. Don't say that Jean is Algerian, he's French-Tunisian. Dakotaraptors could tell when a new keeper was there and would jump from tree trunks to catch them off guard. Also lock the gate because they can use their snouts to open it. Only women, or the Head Keeper and Head Ranger, could go near the mammoth matriarch because of human hunters in the past. That made her sad. At that moment she realised she was drunk.

Wrapped in a towel she clumsily walked back with Kat to their respective apartments. After fumbling with her key for some time she finally succeeded in getting it into the lock. "Thanks for tonight Kat. It really made me feel…make me feel welcome."

"No matter. Hey! Elizabesh," (Kat was slurring her words from drink) "told me that when you start there's gonna be anosher misshon. For a big crocodile…Purussaurus. That's it…"

 **Notes:**

 **Like before say if you like this one. If yes I'll continue it. Also with the suggestions for Phase Three please limit each request to one specific animal. It ensures that the animal that you definitely want rescued is rescued that way. These are the planned missions for Phase Three so none of you end of up requesting something that's already planned:**

 **1\. Brachiosaurus**

 **2\. Koolasuchus**

 **3\. Steller's sea cow, great auk and possibly one other aquatic species**

 **4\. Various moa species**

 **5\. Helicoprion**


	22. Park Stories- Tides of Time

**Park Stories- Tides of Time**

 _Prehistoric Park's aquarium, Tides of Time, is home to various aquatic species from all across the world, and from all across time. The aquarium is split into sections largely based off of formations or time periods where the inhabitants were found. In Tides of Time a wide array of life can be found ranging from the_ Anomalocaris _from the mid-Cambrian, half a billion years old, to the recently extinct_ houting. _Not only does the aquarium exhibit extinct animals, but also, several endangered species. Among these include the_ beluga sturgeon _and_ angelsharks _. In the centre of the aquarium is the_ Primeval Ocean _tank, a twenty metre deep tank which contains over three and a half million litres, as well as hundreds of aquatic animals, (mostly fish), from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Among the inhabitants of this tank include the ancient north African coelacanth_ Mawsonia, _the shark_ Hybodus, _the giant ammonite_ Parapuzosia, _and the sawfish_ Onchropistis.

 _Extinct mammals and birds can also be found in the Tides of Time. The_ Frozen Seas _area of the aquarium is home to a large tank home to Prehistoric Park's population of_ Steller's sea cows _as well as a population of_ great auks. _In the aquarium there is also a small flock of_ Ichthyornis _from the Cretaceous, and there is a walkway for guests to pass by various recently extinct seabirds including the_ Bermuda shearwater, Olson's petrel, _and_ Guadalupe storm petrel. _Unlike most species at the park the recently extinct seabirds were not rescued: instead they were cloned. One of the biggest draws of the aquarium is that it attaches to a walkways leading to the_ Tethys Ocean _; a large enclosure built that reaches into the sea surrounding the Nga Rara islands and is home to various Jurassic sea creatures like_ Plesiosaurus, Leedsichtys, _and_ Temnodontosaurus.

The aquarium is one of the most popular attractions, alongside the aviary, that Prehistoric Park has on offer. Various surveys found that over ninety percent of guests had managed to visit the aquarium during their visit. For one, the wide range of life ranging from Hynerpeton to Hyneria to great auks made people eager to come to it, but with the aquarium being indoors it was a good way to stay out of the rain making it even more popular. Naturally some areas of the aquarium were far more popular than many other areas. The _Primeval Ocean_ tank, _Red Hill Shale_ , and the _Scorpion Shore_ all became guest favourites. Some of the areas of the aquarium were popular among the guests except that certain tanks in each area were overlooked. The Steller's sea cow got the attention in the _Frozen Seas_ while the houting got overlooked, and for every one person who looked at the side-tanks in the _Cambrian Coast_ ten went to look at the Anomalocaris. The _Bird Walkway_ , (where the recently extinct seabirds fly around the guests and staff), was often regarded as being the most dull section of the aquarium, most likely as the birds exhibited were extremely similar to the seabirds living wild on the islands.

Easily the pride of the aquarium is the _Primeval Ocean_ tank. The tank is often advertised as holding Mesozoic and Cenozoic life; this is actually incorrect. Prehistoric Park's Helicoprion can be found in this tank although this is the only animal from the Palaeozoic to be found in the tank. Also, extant animals can be found in this tank including angelsharks, Japanese spider crabs, and ocean sunfish. However, it is the wide variety of extinct wildlife which attracts the most attention to the tank. From sharks to ammonites to coelocanths to sawfish it has something for all. One of the biggest questions guests have is why the animals don't eat each other? The simple answer is they are well fed so they don't eat other animals in the tank. However, at times some of the tank residents have eaten one another. Two young Parapuzosia have been eaten by the Helicoprion and an angelshark once ate a young spider crab. Luckily there have been no residents eating one another since 2022, (the second Parapuzosia death). Prehistoric Park's _Primeval Ocean_ has drawn the envy of her sister park Prehistoric Realm who's aquarium lacks a tank of equal size. Currently Prehistoric Realm is building a tank of even larger size in the hope that they can hold an Etodus.

The great auks managed to breed successfully at the park and their population grew so rapidly that by 2021 the park managed to release a population to the wild in Nova Scotia. The Canadian government has protected the wild birds and are doing well in the wild. Currently talks are taking place with the Icelandic and British governments to release more birds to the wild. As of 2025 they are one of four species to be successfully reintroduced, (the others being the passenger pigeon, huia, and Pinta Island Galapagos tortoise). Prehistoric Park has also managed to reintroduce beluga sturgeon to the wild following the species going extinct in the wild in 2018 thanks to overhunting. Of the other residents of the aquarium Prehistoric Park is hoping they can reintroduce the Steller's sea cow once the population has sufficiently grown.

Compared to the aviary the aquarium has had far fewer incidents and all of them, bar one, have involved staff members since the park opened. All of these have been minor and similar incidents have been recorded in aquariums all around the world. Many of these include getting nipped by the Hynerpeton, pecked by the seabirds, or pinched by a sea scorpion. The only serious incident to happen was when a keeper in 2023 fell into an Anomalocaris tank resulting them getting attacked by the Cambrian predator. Luckily they fell into the Maotianshan species enclosure, the species more adapted to filter-feeding, so they only got scrapped by the barbs on the appendages. What the park staff was most concerned by was if the keeper got hypothermia from being submerged in such cold water. Only one incident has occurred with a member of the public and even then it was not technically a member of the public. In 2022 Prehistoric Park allowed a behind the scenes documentary to be filmed for the BBC which gave two presenters the chance to work as keepers with various animals around the park. When filming in the aquarium one presenter was working with the Hyneria. While throwing chum into the water one of the giant fish unexpectedly jumped from the water to grab hold of their arm. If the fish had not otherwise been a young one it could have cost the presenter his hand. Thankfully he escaped with a broken hand and a damaged ego.

One of the biggest draws of the aquarium was that it adjoined onto an underwater walkway which went through the large sea tank called the _Tethys Ocean_. Quite often guests comment how the attachment to this walkway keeps up the immersion the park offers, especially considering that to get to the walkway one has to pass the _Primeval Ocean_ tank. Prehistoric Park only offers one other exhibit attachment with the Herptile and Invertebrate House attaching onto the Carboniferous Dome. However, everyone always comments how the attachment in the aquarium feels far more natural compared to the Carboniferous Dome attachment. Various animal rights groups have become impressed by this attachment due to the fact that it emphasises that Prehistoric Park places animal wellbeing as its main priority. By clearly showing a sea tank home to large animals which can swim freely, and not in an aquarium, helped place the park in a better standing in their view. For this reason Prehistoric Realm is planning something similar when its version of the _Tides of Time_ is completed.

 **Notes:**

 **Again please continue giving me your three suggestions for Phase Three, please just three animals though. I shall put my favourite five on a poll for you to all decide. Quite ironically mission thirteen has been cancelled for the time being. It was supposed to be up in the next few days but I have been struck down with food poisoning so I haven't managed to do research for it. Also, I'm moving back to university which will delay it further, and with university this will push it back further. I'm doing some more Prehistoric Stories over the weekend though and I'll explain more about the missions on the later ones.**


	23. Park Stories- Nyasasaurus

**Park Stories- Nyasasaurus**

 _From the website soon after opening:_

 _Nyasasaurus is one of the oldest dinosaurs, possibly the oldest dinosaur, living 243 million years ago during a time called the Triassic. Being one of the most primitive dinosaurs the Nyasasaurus lacks any of the feathers which can be found on the various dinosaur species found throughout the park. Nyasasaurus came from the Manda Formation in what is now Tanzania alongside the rhynchosaurs Stenaulorhynchus, and the rauisuchian Stagonosuchus._

 _Prehistoric Park is home to eight Nyasasaurs and the oldest are some of the first extinct animals to be rescued from extinction. These curious little early dinosaurs can be seen from dawn till dusk at the Manda Formation of the park._

Nyasasaurus was the third species to be rescued by Prehistoric Park, and it was the first dinosaur that the park had. Although, initially there was some speculation about if it was a dinosaur or some primitive archosaur instead. When Prehistoric Park later acquired younger dinosaurs, including T rex and Tianyulong, mitochondrial DNA comparison confirmed that the Nyasasaurus was in fact a dinosaur, although the debate still rages whether it was a basal saurischian, ornithischian, or something else. Despite the furious debates about the nature of the Nyasasaurus it remains one of the favourites among Prehistoric Park staff, and any guests who go out to look at them. Being prey items of the Stagonosuchus this has made the Nyasasaurus timid by nature with it taking them several months before they would approach a new keeper. Any lucky keeper able to pet a Nyasasaur has commented how bumpy their skin; like the feeling of hairs growing from a shaved skin. This stems from the little basal dinosaur evolving the filaments which would cover their descendants.

Nyasasaurs live in groups of three to four individuals of both sexes. These little gaggles happen to be made of one male and two females with no clear hierarchy, although males will fight over control of the gaggles. During mating season the male will mate with his two female companions who will each lay three eggs, only one of the eggs are fertile, however. Just before the young become sexually mature at two years of age they are chased off by their parents so they can reproduce once more. Although once the chicks were chased off after a few months indicating that the age where the chicks are forced out of the gaggle changes for each gaggle. Nyasasaurs, however, only reproduce when they know Stenaulorhynchus, and possibly other Tanzanian rhynchosaurs, are reproducing so they can steal rhynchosaur eggs when their own eggs are incubating. By the time the park opened the Nyasasaurs had only been successfully bred once for this reason although since the population has boomed.

Nyasasaurus was hoped to be one of the most popular animals at the park with them being one of the oldest known dinosaurs. In Prehistoric Park's early days following opening the marketing department had focused its energies on some of the lesser known residents to emphasise the wide diversity of life at the park. Being such an early dinosaur Nyasasaurus was chosen by the marketing department to be one of the residents to be advertised. With the combination of being an early dinosaur, being the first animal on the safari tour, and the marketing campaign it was assumed that Nyasasaurus would be an instant hit. Unfortunately their skittish nature meant that they would shy away from guests and, from the bus tour as well. As the Darwinius and Anchiornis became signatures of Prehistoric Park the Nyasasaurus became just another obscure resident which the more capricious guests would complain about being unable to see on social media. To avoid this issue Prehistoric Realm chose to not include their population of Nyasasaurs on their safari tour.

Although they are timid by nature the Nyasasaurus is also very inquisitive requiring various stimuli to keep them entertained. Keepers have found that hiding treats among logs, crevices, and in bushes can keep any of the ancient dinosaurs entertained for a long time. On particularly hot days berries frozen in ice are scattered about their enclosure to both entertain and cool them down. Unlike other animals Nyasasaurs refuse to go near any objects made by humans which other animals use for enrichment, except for CDs. For some reason the dinosaurs love CDs when the sun shines on them so the keepers often tie string through the hole of a CD and onto a low lying tree branch. They can spend hours jumping up at the CD trying to snap at the shiny surface. With CDs and DVDs going into decline in 2021 this gave the Nyasasaurs plenty of surplus discs to play with.

 **Notes:**

 **I'm having a break from fanfiction for some time. I do have a reason for this. I am writing two stories and one is set in a wildlife park for extinct animals called Project Gaia. Many of the things that I've written about for this fanfiction, (the Nga Rara islands, Shinchoku Co., the Primeval Ocean tank, how they clone the animals, and a huge chunk of the named characters), are in Project Gaia. I think you can all see my dilemma. As a result I'm going to have a break to think of some better ideas and reinvigorate the story. On the plus side I shall be putting up the new poll tomorrow so you can decide the next last mission of Phase Three.**


End file.
